BENGALURU: Extremely happy at the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3, former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Madhavan Nair congratulated the space agency on its “remarkable achievement” and said that scientists in India deserve “better” in terms of recognition and remuneration.
“I compliment team ISRO for their persistent efforts despite the Chandrayaan-2 setback. Chandrayaan-3 achieved what no other country could. Russia, with their vast and decades of experience in space, failed,” the former ISRO chief said.
Speaking about Chandrayaan-3, Nair said, “...for the first time we have our own spacecraft on the lunar south pole. We had announced the date of its launch and landing two months in advance and things progressed with absolute precision. The last 30 minutes of the Lander Vikram’s descent to the surface of the Moon, which was hitherto an unchartered territory, were mind-boggling. Its autonomous landing was simply fantastic and the entire global space community is proud of ISRO,” said Nair, sounding like a proud parent of a child, who has etched a mark in history.
Nair said that ISRO has an impeccable track record of long-term strategy and planning. “They have a systematic development programme. They build one module on the other, which reduces the incremental costs. The tracking network of Chandrayaan-1 is still active. Several technological developments for Chandrayaan-1 and 2 were adopted for Chandrayaan-3. ISRO uses homegrown technology,” he added.
Nair, however, lamented the “low” salaries of ISRO scientists.
“They don’t clamour for higher remuneration. Instead, they look for technical challenges and are known to achieve great milestones at low cost. ISRO scientists forget about their family life and are on the job 24/7. They have a passion for making personal sacrifices to achieve a goal. The government should recognise their efforts through improved remuneration and awards. The last pay commission did hike the salaries but it was not adequate,” said Nair.
He added that the remuneration of space scientists in the West is around 10 times more than their Indian counterparts. “That is the gap. I am not looking at doubling the wages as the benchmark because our economic conditions are different from the West. More than the monetary remuneration, the government should recognise scientists on national and international forums,” Nair said.
The former ISRO chief also highlighted the need to include more space scientists in the Centre's Padma awards list. “In the last few years, no scientist has figured in the Padma awards list. I was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2009 after Chandrayaan-1. There should be similar recognitions for other space scientists.” Former ISRO scientist and project director, Chandrayaan 1 & 2, M Annadurai was conferred the Padma Shri in 2016.
Nair added that collaboration with foreign space agencies should be encouraged and exhorted the Indian industry to come forward and invest in space by way of human resources and funding to expand space commerce. “Space has vast opportunities not only in terms of scientific explorations, and climate change but for civil and defence applications as well,” added Nair.