Tejas' success makes Darbhanga native proud

Patna: A native of Darbhanga district in Bihar, Manas Bihari Verma, is a proud man today, after the induction of Tejas, India’s first indigenous multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft, in the Indian Air Force (IAF) recently. This former scientist in Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) was instrumental in evolving the architecture and specifications of all mechanical systems of this light combat aircraft as the erstwhile management programme director of Tejas. “I joined the DRDO in aeronautical stream and worked for 35 years in various positions in aeronautical establishments in New Delhi, Bangalore and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Koraput. Later, I joined the design team of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) in Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and was made responsible for design of the aircraft’s mechanical system,” he recalls.
“It is a matter of pride and happiness for me that Tejas have become a part of IAF and Indian Navy, three decades after the project went on the drawing board and 15 years after it flew for the first time, in which I played a key role. I led the team that completed the first phase of full-scale engineering development of Tejas, given this name by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It proves our skills and strengths in indigenous defence manufacturing,” said Verma.
“The Government of India invited me to attend the launching ceremony of Tejas. But, I could not make it due to some personal reasons,” he added.
After his superannuation from ADA, Bangalore, in 2005, he returned to his native village Bour in Ghanshyampur block of Darbhanga district and is now imparting science and computer education to poor dalit children.
Verma, who had been a close friend of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, has since 2010 been associated with popularization and teaching of science and computers in the rural schools of Bihar, a programme undertaken by the Viksit Bharat Foundation (VBF) started by Kalam.
“The Agastya International Foundation (AIF), Bangalore, with a team of four science and two computer instructors and three mobile science laboratories visits schools in Darbhanga, Madhubani and Supaul districts, demonstrating scientific experiments and imparting computer training. The teaching of science through experimental models has been undertaken in more than 80 middle and high schools under ‘Lab In Box’ (LIB) programme sponsored by VBF and AIF with the help of IBM,” said Verma.
Verma said attendance in many of these schools had gone up from 10% to 80-90% after mobile science labs started visiting them.
This programme, however, gets no financial help from Bihar government and runs on financial support from Kalam’s foundation — Viksit Bharat.
Whenever Kalam visited Darbhanga, he made it a point to review the work of his foundation. Verma is now planning to expand the work of the foundation in more districts of Bihar to provide science education to more poor children.