Chennai, Sep 6 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President and Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government of treating India’s scientists as tools for political publicity while failing to address concerns over pay, job security and working conditions.
In a post on social media platform X, Tagore said the country’s celebrated space achievements were built on years of sacrifice by scientists who worked through schedules, professional setbacks and mental pressure.
He added that public celebrations of rocket launches overlooked the people whose efforts made those missions possible.
“India takes pride in rockets reaching space, missions exploring the Moon and Sun, and preparations to send astronauts into orbit,” the Congress MP said.
“However, behind those accomplishments were scientists who had worked day and night, setting aside time with their families and enduring the strain accompanying failures,” Tagore added.
He said that it was disturbing that personnel associated with launching missions were being forced to submit representations to authorities over secure employment, adequate salaries and their livelihoods.
The contrast, the Congress MP added, exposed the gap between the Union government’s celebration of scientific success and its treatment of the workforce responsible for it.
The Virudhunagar MP also invoked the history of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), established in 1969.
He credited the Congress movement and national leaders, along with space scientist Vikram Sarabhai, with helping lay the foundations of ISRO as a public-sector institution committed to national self-reliance.
He alleged that the Union government was attempting to weaken nearly six decades of scientific work by favouring corporate interests and creating uncertainty about employees’ futures.
Such an approach, Tagore said, threatened the institutional framework that enabled India to develop indigenous capabilities in space science and technology.
The Congress MP also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he appeared alongside scientists and before cameras when missions succeeded but remained silent when professionals raised concerns about their employment and rights.
A government claiming credit for achievements should also recognise the hardship faced by those who delivered them, the Congress leader said.
He accused the BJP of reducing scientists to pawns in publicity-driven politics and said such treatment could not be accepted.
Calling ISRO a part of India’s identity, Tagore said its public character and scientific mission must be protected.
He warned against allowing private interests to undermine an institution that has become a symbol of the country’s technological progress and self-reliance.
–IANS
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