Former Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientist Nambi Narayanan alleged that prior administrations underfunded ISRO during its formative years because they had "no faith" in the organization.
In his remarks to the news agency ANI in the early years of ISRO, Narayanan said, "Under the previous government, when we started in 1962–1963, we were only 20–23 individuals. the launch of the first rocket. It was mounted on a rented rocket. There were only three structures there at the time.
However, the former scientist claimed that it was merely due to a lack of funding and shouldn't be seen "politically" with regard to the ISRO-ACP relationship. "Why should we pursue that collaboration if we have the necessary funding? The collaboration itself got underway due to a lack of funding. Many individuals are unaware and tend to see it politically. However, the harsh reality is that we lacked the funds. But I hold no government accountable," he added.
He continued by saying that the lack of funding hurt his efforts on the liquid propulsion system, but he refused to place the responsibility on the government. He claimed that at the time, they lacked faith in ISRO.
He said, "The reason can be that it's not your priority, you don't know what our priority is, you might have thought that this wasn't necessary, you didn't have faith.
As for Narayanan's assertions, the ruling BJP poked fun at Congress, stating that the grand old party couldn't discredit the PM simply because they didn't like him.
"A top ISRO scientist claims that when the Opposition questions why PM Modi went to ISRO and received respect, he gets startled. Shri S. Somanath, chairman of ISRO, received respect everywhere. You cannot disparage PM only because you disagree with him. Who else is to receive credit for a national endeavor? He cannot be fired from his job simply because the opposition doesn't like him, according to the BJP.
