'He didn't touch upon the core questions raised by the employee associations.'
Employees at the Indian Space Research Organisation are disappointed with ISRO Chairman Dr V Narayanan, who without answering the core questions raised by their representative associations, repeated what has been said several times earlier while addressing them through a video on Tuesday morning.
"Yesterday there was an address by ISRO Chairman Narayanan. The address started at 11.30 am in the morning and ended sharp at 12 noon," an ISRO employee told this correspondent.
"He spoke about ISRO's achievements, development of the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), India's plans to build a space station and other project and assured that there will be work for all," the ISRO staffer remarked.
"However, he didn't touch upon the core questions raised by the nine employee associations in their letter. This was disappointing for all," the ISRO veteran added.
Simply put, he was repeating what was being said for the past six years and there was nothing new in his video address on Tuesday, ISRO officials felt.
Key Points
- ISRO employees said Chairman V Narayanan's address failed to answer key questions raised by nine staff associations.
- The associations have demanded written clarification on technology transfers, NSIL's role and IN-SPACe's authority.
- Retired space secretaries argue IN-SPACe is exceeding its mandate by inviting private sector interest in ISRO's rocket technologies.
Nine Associations Seek Clarity
In their joint letter to Dr Narayanan, the nine employee associations had asked him to give a written clarification on:
'The institutional arrangement under which publicly created technology, test facilities, launch complexes and know-how - built with taxpayer funds and the labour of generations of ISRO employees - are being transferred or opened to private operation, and the role of NSIL (NewSpace India Ltd) vis-a-vis IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) in such transfers.'
The associations also sought Dr Narayanan's answers to several other questions, including whether the statements of the chairman, IN-SPACe, represent an approved decision of the Government of India, Space Commission or Department of Space, or are an expression of IN-SPACe's promotional outlook.
'If approved, the date, authority and text of the policy decision may kindly be indicated,' they said.
Questions Over PSLV Transfer
The associations have also asked:
'What will be the future mandated role of ISRO as a public organisation -- specifically, whether design, development, realisation, integration, testing and launch of rockets like PSLV, LVM3, SSLV and successor vehicles will continue as ISRO functions or will cease.
'Whether any decision has been taken to exclude Public Sector Undertakings from the proposed transfer of PSLV/LVM3 production, and the justification for such exclusion.'
IN-SPACe's Role Under Scrutiny
Retired ISRO chairmen like G Madhavan Nair and others had told this correspondent that IN-SPACe is clearly exceeding its brief in calling Expression of Interest (EOI) from the private sector for ISRO's PSLV and LVM3 rocket technologies as well as for operating the upcoming spaceport in Tamil Nadu.
According to them, transfer of ISRO's technologies falls under the domain of public sector undertaking NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), while IN-SPACe is only an authorising agency for private sector players.
Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
