The Centre has appointed Rajesh Gokhale, 54, as Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, according to a note from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Tuesday. Mr. Gokhale takes over from Renu Swarup, who is set to retire on 31st of this month.
Dr Gokhale, an immunologist and known for throwing new light on aspects of tuberculosis, was former Director at the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB). He is now Professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune and until recently was a senior scientist at the National Institute of Immunology, Delhi.
“It is a big responsibility and I look forward to doing my best,” Mr. Gokhale told The Hindu.
The DBT is a department that has played a crucial role during the pandemic particularly the development of indigenous vaccines.
Mr. Gokhale won the Infosys Life Sciences award, 2013, and was among the few scientists at the CSIR who founded a startup biotech company, following a change in policy in CSIR rules permitting scientists to take stake in startups.
This however took a turn for the worse with a departmental inquiry, a few years on, on alleged ‘conflict of interest’ in his position as a director of a CSIR lab and a scientist with a founder-stake in a company. This prompted enquiries by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and though several expert committees cleared him, it was only in December, 2020 that the matter was finally laid to rest after a Delhi High Court order.
