The Congress party on Sunday accused the Modi government of deliberately curtailing the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) role in the name of encouraging start‑ups. General secretary Jairam Ramesh shared a screenshot of a media report that said key employee associations had written to ISRO chairperson V Narayanan, questioning the direction of the agency’s privatisation drive and its implications for the existing workforce and future role. Ramesh said the government’s policy would transfer the decades‑old capabilities built by ISRO to private companies whose long‑term commitment is doubtful.
Ramesh posted the remarks on X, calling the move “courageous and commendable” that voices from within the ISRO community are now speaking out, as revealed in an Indian Express report. He noted that the recent successful GSLV launch had emboldened the agency, disappointing ISRO sceptics and critics both in India and abroad. He also referenced former chairman G Madhavan Nair, urging others to speak up so that the “Sarabhai‑Dhawan edifice” is not “systematically dismantled”.
Earlier in the week the Congress praised ISRO for launching the country’s first imaging satellite into geostationary orbit, calling the achievement a morale booster. The party said the launch would help counter attacks from various quarters. It also accused the Modi government of a “radical role reconfiguration” that would change ISRO’s character, and of pursuing an “aggressive privatisation agenda”. ISRO, founded in 1969 with Sarabhai as its first chairman, achieved its maiden success for 2026 with the GSLV launch of a 2,300‑kg payload.
