Indian scientists are in an uproar over the sudden removal last week of the head of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for alleged financial mismanagement. Agricultural minister Nitish Kumar said that Rajendra Singh Paroda, a prominent scientist who has headed the $300 million ICAR for the past 6 years, was sacked to allow for an "independent investigation" of allegations that he mishandled the purchase of computers as part of a loan from the World Bank. But Narendra Gupta, executive secretary of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, says that he doubts the allegations will hold up. The unprecedented removal of a well-regarded technocrat, he says, makes scientists "like sacrificial lambs in the hands of politicians."
ICAR, with 5000 scientists, is India's premier agriculture research agency and has played a crucial role in ushering in the Green Revolution. An ICAR spokesperson said that "there was a deathly silence after the news of the removal broke."
