Should ISRO pay more than NASA?
Hello,
The below posted blog is actually a slightly edited version of comment posted by me for the post in the blog coffeewithsundar.com for the post http://coffeewithsundar.com/interesting-comment-from-senthil-kumar/
My comments
It is quite an interesting perspective from Mr. Senthil. The answer to such confusion lies in the theory behind the very concept of Capitalism and Communism. In my view, Socialism is a middle-ground to these. Its a very fine balance between greed and irrational emotion towards one country(read “extreme patriotism”).
But in my humble opinion, none of the great things are built with the sole aim of altruism. Atleast, not most. I may be wrong. You could definitely come up with a number of living and non-living great minds to refute my understanding. But you see, thats not my point. Chandrayaan was not built primarily to increase the prestige of our country. It is justified such a monstrous budget (considering the indian scenario) based on the acceptance of potential long term benefits which could possibly never turn to fruition. And its a feather in the cap to showcase Indian talent for the multi billion dollar satellite launch industry of which India is pretty much a pioneer now.
So my friend, one should always care about money. It is the reason the entire world is functioning. It is the reason you are guaranteed your next day’s bread. One must be aware that if greed takes over ethics, then there is a good chance we would come to a standstill. Even then, it is not the money that led you to this. It is the greed of few men. An example for such a thing is the present scenario of the US.
In summary, need should always keep greed in check. ISRO would pay more than NASA if they need good talent. And such good talent must be justified on all grounds. What is the use of great minds, if all that they have to grapple with are red-tapism and bureaucracy?
There are much more complicated issues than money although I completely agree that money is also part of the issues. Every man lives to be happy. Either happiness is felt with a good bank balance or a passionate achievement in work, the hiring company must keep their employees happy for their own sake.
So more than patriotism, if I were the one to set preferences for the aspirants applying for ISRO, interest in science and academic achievements would be given more weightage even irrespective of nationality. All I am saying is that ISRO should be willing to pay more, just for the reason NASA pays their employees handsomely.
There are much more ways to demonstrate patriotism. Refusing to pay bribe, reporting corrupt officials to vigilance, protesting against bad roads, solving the traffic issues, ways to improve literacy, ways to improve employment, paying taxes properly are some of the ways I could think from the top of my head to show true patriotism. If you think none of them are your concerns, perhaps voicing against greed but great talents is the least of a nation’s concern.
So the question is this, if NASA thinks those minds are worth so much and are able to justify the same, then why does ISRO think that they are worth peanuts (if they are really paying peanuts)? There must be something fundamentally missing here. Either the scope of ISRO is much less, if they are paying their employees less or if they deliberately want to pay low, perhaps they dont deserve such people. I donot think either of them are reasons. An entire revamp of attitude is required and government should increase research spending by multiple folds.
My few cents.
