JOIN USBanned scientist admits to lapse
Isro’s non-disclosure of Devas’s name in the controversial S-band spectrum allocation contract was “definitely a big miss and, “in retrospect, should not have happened”, one of the four former scientists of India’s space agency recently banned by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) from being re-employed disclosed to Deccan Herald on Wednesday.
This crucial omission in naming a company which was awarded the contract and is staffed by several former Isro employees is among some of the critical points of the contract that has raised eyebrows at the highest level in the government over the $300-million deal with Antrix Corporation, Isro’s commercial arm. The deal was finally scrapped in February 2011.
As then Isro chairman, Madhavan Nair, as well as the other three scientists -- former scientific secretary A Bhaskaranarayana, fomer Antrix Corporation managing director K R Shridharamurthi and ex-director of Isro’s Satellite Centre K N Shankara should have known the consequences of omitting Devas’s name.
But speaking to Deccan Herald, Shridharamurthi said that when satellite project proposals are drawn up, the names of users and customers are generally not mentioned as a practice.
“But in this specific case, Devas was not named and, in retrospect, yes, certainly and definitely, it was big miss. It should not have happened,” the scientist said, adding, however, that then additional secretary was kept in the loop about the leasing of the transponders.
While Nair could not be reached for comments as he is away in a West Asian country, Shridharamurthi said there was no intentional suppression of Devas’s name in the contract. Besides, Antrix did not pressure Isro officials involved in conceiving and executing the contract to withhold any information.
Pointing out that the High Level Team led by former Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha sent all the four scientists some “biased” questions related to the contract, Shridharamurthi said the queries “appeared to me to have originated from one line of thinking -- that the contract was flawed. I felt that the questions were aimed at basically picking holes in the contract”.
He said he sent his clarifications, including scheduling and financial aspects, to the Team, but despite seeking a meeting with the panel members, he was never given the opportunity to appear before the probe team in person.
The earlier High Powered Committee chairmed by B K Chaturvedi and Roddam Narasimha also did not give the four scientists an opportunity to appear before it, Shridharamurthi, who quit Isro in September 2010, said. Following the PMO’s ban order last week and after Nair hit out against present Isro Chairman K Radhakrishnan, the Centre has signalled that it might be willing to consider giving the four scientists to present their views on the controversial deal.
“We are awaiting when and how the government will ask us to make our stand clear,” Shridharamurthi said, adding that the four scientists were yet to put their heads together on their defence.
According to some parts of the report of the Committee led by Chaturvedi and Narasimha, while there were procedural lapses in awarding the contract, communication of a few key elements of the contract took place verbally. Shridharamurthi said the project proposal, which “no single person decided”, was sent to the Cabinet for approval.
“We did see some risks, especially those related to technology in space and on the ground. We needed someone who could take risks and invest so that it could lead to a viable service and growth of market.”
Besides, the scientist, while admitting that neither Isro nor Antrix communicated to the government about the launch of two exclusive satellites for Devas, said this could have been another factor that the space agency was remiss from the government’s perspective.