NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha witnessed noisy scenes when the treasury bench vehemently protested Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s accusation that the Centre “discredited” previous governments for the success achieved in space science.
The debate ‘India’s Glorious Space Journey Marked by Successful Soft Landing of Chandrayaan-III’ began well after leader of House Piyush Goyal introduced the subject in the House, giving credit for the success to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
When chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar provided the floor to Jairam Ramesh, the Congress leaders congratulated the scientists of ISRO for the landmark success of Chandrayaan-III. Ramesh, however, attacked treasury benches for claims made. “I urge the government to let the Indian space programme be an instrument of development. It should not be an instrument of muscular nationalism,” he said.
He further remarked that the contributions of the country’s first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and former PM Indira Gandhi in strengthening the ISRO and space sector cannot be overlooked by anyone.
“There is a need for the government to make the House know who has contributed what so far to space development since independence, rather than fall victim to this new impression that the entire accomplishment in it has been possible as the result of only one individual,” said Ramesh in an indirect reference to PM Modi.
He attributed the success of Chandrayaan-II and the Aditya-L1 to competencies, capabilities and capacities created gradually over 60 years. He asked the government to ensure full liberty and support to India’s scientific and technological institutions, adding that scientific institutions must be given independence in professionalism without political interference and intervention.
Highlighting what the previous government had done in the space sector, the Congress leader categorically said, “Despite knowing all these, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the House like to airbrush them away from history, they cannot succeed in it and cannot be erased from history.”
Quoting some reference, he went on to claim that the first milestone in the space sector was created on February 22, 1962, when an office order was issued to set up the “Indian National Committee for Space Research” (INCSR) and it was followed by the second milestone created with the ISRO on August 15, in1969 and the third milestone in July 1972 July, when Satish Dhawan was brought from foreign and made the chairman of ISRO.