Few minutes after the CHANDRAYAAN-I (it is Chandra Jaan, meaning "vehicle to the Moon") took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at exactly 6:22 am IST today morning (22 October 2008), anxious faces at ISRO and throughout the country brimmed with joy.
Although first from India, this launch is not something pioneering - there has been 67 previous Moon Mission launches by various other countries of the world. Yet, there is one amazing aspect of this particular Mission - the most economical ever !! Any NASA Moon Mission would cost in excess of US$ 300 million. Such missions from two other Asian countries China and Japan have left the respective countries poorer by US$ 187 million and US$ 480 million. Compare this to the cost incurred by ISRO for sending CHANDRAYAAN-I to orbit - a paltry US$ 80 million.
How did this become possible? The cost of any Space Mission escalates with the amount of Scientific and Engineering research hours spent on it. It is not really the cost of raw materials that shoots up the expense, but the cost of human brain - brains of the highest intellect.
Here is where ISRO has saved its money. In spite of having the best of breed scientists and engineers, whose faculty is comparable to the best in the world, ISRO does not require to spend a fortune to satisfy them. These people work for their own satisfaction, with dedication and motivation that money can seldom bring forth. They work for their motherland, rebuffing many lucrative offers from various developed nations.
Please do not be mistaken that I am showering eulogies to the Indian Scientists (yes, Indian Scientists in general because there are many R & D organizations of international repute like DRDO, BARC where the pay scales are similar) at an opportune time. Compare the remuneration of the NASA scientists and their counterparts in ISRO - you will realize the difference.
As the entire nation celebrates the success of years of diligence and sacrifice of the stalwarts of ISRO, I salute their unrivaled DEDICATION and MOTIVATION which catapulted India into an elite and exclusive club having know how of the ultimate frontiers of technology.
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3 comments:
There is nothing to feel proud about the sacrifice made by our scientists. This is a shame for our nation that we are not rewarding our top scientists appropriately. We are taking the advantage of their love for the nation and motivation of their work. This situation will not sustain in the long run – India will face an acute shortage of scientists.. I’m not sure if this situation (shortage of scientists) is already prevailing in India. This is not the case with only the Govt. scientists who are paid below the international standard. There are other sectors such as Civil services and defense organizations in India who are also serving the nation (for defense personnel - they do it by taking the risk of losing their lives) just for a pie and struggling to have a decent standard of living in this age of inflation and economic downturn. It is not the case that these Govt. organizations are not facing quality manpower shortage… the pressure is already there as you see many people from these Govt. organizations are taking up lucrative private sector jobs or just leaving the country for a better prospect and pay package.
We are living in the era of globalization and liberalization. Hence, our Govt. will also have to run various vital organizations in “corporate style”… patriotic songs and motivation will not work well as the developed nations and MNCs are aggressive to snatch quality manpower from across the globe.
One more thing I would like point out… India is a developing country with more than half of her people living below poverty line. Is it not a luxury for a nation like India to launch a moon mission where you have other economic priorities to eliminate poverty / corruption? What is the outcome of the moon mission? What are costs are benefits of the moon mission? How critical it is for country’s economy? I’m not sure of these answers… let me know if you have an answer.
Thanks
SG
I disagree that "we are taking advantage of their love ..." - these top scientists know that they can earn a fortune if they set their foot outside their country. Yet they choose to be poorer by a few pennies. Neither the Government nor any law of the land forces them to do so. That they have stayed back are their personal decisions and hence they are worthy of highest respect as human beings (apart from their scientific prowess).
True, we might face a shortage of top-notch scientists and technicians ... but more than any other country and globalization, we have to blame some of the other high paying industries of our country which is weaning away all the talent but committing nothing in return (except perhaps the Tata's who have immense contribution towards fundamental research - TIFR, IISc, Tata Memorial Hospital).
I believe that there are 3 pillars on which the development of any country stands - Economics, Science & Technology, and Society. Weaken one of the pillars, the whole system will break down. Also, less than 10% of the Union Budget pie goes to Ministry of Science and technology. See this link http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2008-09/eb/vol2.htm. It will require some calculation to arrive at the exact percentage - but really, it is meager compared to the defense and other expenses.
Finally, we can not question expenses on Scientific & Technology and at the same time repent that our scientists are being exploited. These are contradictory. If we have to comply with both, then we have to drastically curtail the number of people working as Scientists and Technologists working in the Government Organizations. If you see the developed world or the fast developing countries, all of them have supreme indigenous scientific and technological capabilities.
There are no immediate tangible returns of the Moon Mission except that our scientists know the moon better. But, such a mission is a congregation of technologies, individual knowledge of which will certainly have far-reaching influences on daily life, not to mention it will increase our independence on military affairs.
"We are taking advantage of their love ...” This is a statement of feelings. Our scientists may not feel that they are being exploited... but what our nation (and every citizen of India) benefits from them is because of their enormous generosity, patriotism & motivation.. And what we (we includes the entire nation and its citizens) reward (monetary) them is a peanut! Hence, I had this personal feeling.
I disagree with – “We have to blame some of the other high paying industries of our country which is weaning away all the talent but committing nothing in return"... This is a world of competition. An organization not only competes in the products / services markets but also it competes in the talent markets. There is nothing wrong if big corporations hire the best minds with better pays... Even if we compare the compensation package of our space scientists with the same of other nations, we stand no where to attract and retain the best minds. This model of operation needs a change that our Govt. is yet to realise. This is an operational inefficiency of our top national organizations... then why to blame our large corporations?
On this statement - "we can not question expenses on Scientific & Technology and at the same time repent that our scientists are being exploited." ... I have questioned the SPECIFIC Chandrayaan project to understand the "cost & benefit" of it and not to oppose / question investment on science and technology IN GENERAL.
Finally you have given a satisfactory answer "There are no immediate tangible returns.....increase our independence on military affairs"
Keep writing! Your writings keep my mind active!
Cheers!
SG
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