'Ask why scientists are leaving': Abhishek Manu Singhvi to Centre after ISRO exit curbs

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Thursday criticised the Centre after it tightened rules governing the resignation and voluntary retirement of scientists working on key Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) missions.

Singhvi said the government should focus on why scientists are leaving rather than making it harder for them to exit.

"You can lock the gates, but you cannot imprison talent. If scientists are leaving ISRO in unprecedented numbers, the Government must ask why, not merely make it harder to leave. India's journey to the stars cannot be powered by declining morale on the ground," Singhvi wrote on X.

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Centre Tightens Exit Rules

Singhvi's remarks came after The Times of India reported that the Department of Space (DoS) had issued an internal memorandum dated July 14 tightening rules on voluntary retirement and resignations for scientists associated with Gaganyaan and other critical missions.

According to the report, the move was aimed at stemming a recent wave of departures from ISRO's flagship programmes.

Over 100 Scientists Have Left

Citing multiple ISRO sources, the newspaper reported that between 100 and 120 scientists had resigned in recent months, prompting the intervention.

The report said around 80 scientists had left the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), while at least 20 had resigned from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

Among those who reportedly exited were LVM-3 Project Director Victor Joseph from VSSC, the SpaDeX project director from URSC, and Aditya Rallapalli, Chandrayaan-3's project manager (simulations), who led the team responsible for generating nearly 25 terabytes of data from over one lakh tests to validate the Moon landing sequence, according to the newspaper.

ISRO Chief Says Projects Will Continue

The report quoted ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan as acknowledging the departures while saying the organisation was equipped to manage them.

"Yes, a lot of people go, but that's part of every organisation. The move isn't only to retain, but also to ensure that important projects don't suffer all of a sudden. But if someone is still going, someone else will take responsibility. We're taking care of it," Narayanan told the national daily.

According to the newspaper, the internal memorandum said there had been "a spate of requests for voluntary retirement and resignation from Group 'A' scientific/technical personnel, including those associated with prestigious Gaganyaan and other important missions/projects severely impacting implementation of projects of national importance."

The report noted that while the departures account for a small share of ISRO's workforce of more than 14,600 employees, they involve scientists from strategically important centres and flagship missions.