Government departments seek more space, dial ISRO to innovate

Credit it to the success of the Mars Orbiter Mission or the keen interest shown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in space affairs, but the government seems to want a bit of space in every area of its functioning.

Over the last few months, nearly every central government department has reached out to India’s space agency, seeking to explore whether their functioning can be improved by the use of technologies and applications that the organisation has developed.

“I have met 45 Secretaries of the Government of India just in the last one month or so,” A S Kiran Kumar, the new chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told The Sunday Express this week.

The Department of Space has organised a conference in New Delhi next month to which it has invited all government departments. “It will be like the ‘Make In India’ conference… We have asked all departments to give us their requirements and we can then assess whether some customised solutions can be developed using space technology,” Kiran Kumar said.

India’s space programme has, besides doing its primary job of space exploration, focused heavily on developing applications that can aid the development process. ISRO is already working with more than 20 departments on programmes such as tele-education, flood forecasting, early warning systems, disaster management, and water management.

Kiran Kumar’s predecessor at ISRO, K Radhakrishnan, said that one of the Indian space programme’s greatest strengths has been its ability to develop a variety of applications. “It is also what distinguishes India’s space programmes from those of the other leading space-faring nations, and makes us special,” Radhakrishnan said.
Kiran Kumar conceded that if a large number of departments put forward demands for applications, the resources of ISRO would be put under stress.

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Source:Indianexpress