Even military regimes treat scientists better

BANGALORE: Expressing angst at the resignation of Prof Roddam Narasimha from the Space Commission, former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said that the scientist was forced to resign “to prove his point”.He also termed Prof Narasimha’s resignation as a “great loss” brought about by “a sad state of affairs”.Nair told Express: “I am not surprised.Such behaviour is not prevalent even in military regimes.Even after soliciting the opinion of many scientists, they are yet to take action,” he said referring to the Department of Space (DoS).He rejected the findings of the subsequent panel constituted under Pratyush Sinha even though Professor B K Chaturvedi and Professor Narasimha had submitted their recommendations.“I believe scientists should have freedom to work...science cannot grow if faith isn’t reposed in them,” Nair said while averring that scientists aren’t “infallible”.On his RTI application for access to documents related to the deal, Nair said that the 30 day-deadline was approaching and yet no details were released.“My application will reach the 30-day limit soon; I’ll see what action needs to be taken,” he added.He asserted that the probe against him and further action taken was insensitive.