The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu
Parrikar today said, he would maintain the fast pace of acquisition set in
motion by the Government for the Defence Forces while ensuring transparency at
every stage. Taking over as the 36th Defence Minister of the
country, Shri Parrikar said, his predecessor Shri Arun Jaitley has initiated
work on many issues relating to Defence despite several constraints and that he
is confident of taking these steps forward with speed. Shri Parrikar expressed
his thanks to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for reposing confidence in
him and entrusting him with this important and sensitive Ministry.
Referring to the ‘Make in India’ drive of the
Government, Shri Parrikar said, the measure will not only lead to self-reliance
in Defence manufacturing but also generate employment and would ultimately
contribute to economic development.
He said, earlier technical skills used to be handed over
from one generation to the other but that tradition is gradually vanishing. It
is for this reason, we have to train people to acquire not only traditional
skills but also new skills.
Shri Parrikar expressed his anguish at the sinking of a
Naval vessel off the Coast of Visakhapatnam and the earlier incident of an
explosion in a submarine.
Earlier, on his arrival at the South Block, this
afternoon, Shri Parrikar was received by the senior officials of the Ministry
of Defence including the Defence Secretary Shri RK Mathur. The Minister of
State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh and the three Service Chiefs also called on
him and greeted on assumption of office.
A Profile
Shri Parrikar was born in Mapusa, Goa on December 13,
1955. He studied at Loyola High School, Margao and completed his secondary
education in Marathi. He graduated from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),
Bombay in 1978 in Metallurgical Engineering. He was awarded by the institute
with Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2001.
Before being inducted into the Union Council of
Ministers on November 09, 2014, he was the Chief Minister of Goa, first from
2000 to 2005 and later from March 2012 to November 2014. Shri Manohar Parrikar
is the first IIT graduate to become a Chief Minister of any Indian State.
Shri Manohar Parrikar is credited with singlehandedly
bringing the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to Goa and creating
more international quality infrastructure for the event in a short time than
any other former Government. He was instrumental in initiating various social
upliftment schemes like Dayanand Samajik Suraksha Yojana, which provides
financial assistance to senior citizens, the Cyberage Scheme which provides
computers to students, Chief Minister Rojgar Yojana, etc.
Known to be a man of action and principles, Shri
Parrikar is known as ‘Mr. Clean’ in Goa.
NAo/HH/RAJ