Previous Congress govts did not have faith in ISRO and did not allocate sufficient funds - Nambi Narayanan

Former Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) scientist Nambi Narayanan said that, the previous Congress government didn't allocate enough funds to the Indian space agency in its formative years as, he said, the government had "no faith" in ISRO.

The taking ISRO credit raised after Chandrayaan-3's successful landing on the Moon on August 23, the Congress had criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "taking the limelight" in reference to his address after the landing.

Responding to the Opposition saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took credit for the historic Moon landing, Nambi Narayanan said that, in a national project such as Chandrayaan-3, who else could be credited if not the Prime Minister?

In a viral video of Nambi Narayanan speaking about ISRO past and during its initial days said, "When you go into a national project, who else can be credited? It is the Prime Minister. You may not like the Prime Minister. That is your problem,".

Even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shared the video of the former scientist speaking to The New Indian about funds allocated to Isro in the past.

The government only provided funding to the space agency after ISRO established its credibility, said Narayanan.

"We didn't have a jeep. We didn't have a car. We didn't have anything. So that means, we didn't have any budget allocation. That was in the beginning," he said.

"The budget was not for the asking, it was given. I wouldn't complain about it but they (previous government) didn't have any faith in you (Isro)," he added.

BJP leader Amit Malviya shared clips from the interview on X. In the video the ex-Isro scientist was also asked if there was any truth to the claims that space scientists were not receiving their salaries on time.

Nambi Narayanan replied that, there was no delay in crediting salaries or pensions, saying that he gets his pension on the 29th of every month.

Prime Minister Modi has ensured increased budgets and stands with our scientists, in their success and failures, Amit Malviya wrote in X that, Now, celebrated former ISRO scientist, Nambi Narayanan refutes allegations of employees not being paid. He says as a pensioner his dues have always been on time, let alone salaries being delayed! Another malicious misinformation campaign of Congress bites dust.

"From then to now...when Prime Minister Modi has ensured increased budgets and stands with our scientists, in their success and failures, India’s space missions have come a long way," he wrote.