<p>The new policy, which lifts some restrictions in force for the past 10 years, came against the backdrop of a CAG report which had found that almost 80 per cent of images of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were idling.<br /><br />According to ISRO, earlier the policy allowed all data of resolutions up to 5.8 metres to be distributed on non-discriminatory basis, but the new policy has brought that down to up to one metre. This would allow more people to access the data. However, the RSDP-2011 will require all data of better than one metre resolution to be screened and cleared by the appropriate agency prior to distribution to protect national security.<br /><br />Government agencies and departments, including government educational and research institutions can, as per the new policy, obtain better than one metre resolution data without any further clearance.<br /><br />Even private sector agencies supporting development activities, recommended by at least one government agency, can obtain data without further clearance.<br /><br />The policy explains that such a decision was taken after having taken into consideration the availability of very high-resolution images from foreign and commercial remote sensing satellites.</p>
<p>The new policy, which lifts some restrictions in force for the past 10 years, came against the backdrop of a CAG report which had found that almost 80 per cent of images of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were idling.<br /><br />According to ISRO, earlier the policy allowed all data of resolutions up to 5.8 metres to be distributed on non-discriminatory basis, but the new policy has brought that down to up to one metre. This would allow more people to access the data. However, the RSDP-2011 will require all data of better than one metre resolution to be screened and cleared by the appropriate agency prior to distribution to protect national security.<br /><br />Government agencies and departments, including government educational and research institutions can, as per the new policy, obtain better than one metre resolution data without any further clearance.<br /><br />Even private sector agencies supporting development activities, recommended by at least one government agency, can obtain data without further clearance.<br /><br />The policy explains that such a decision was taken after having taken into consideration the availability of very high-resolution images from foreign and commercial remote sensing satellites.</p>
