ICCfG Sardar Patel Lecture on Governance by Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Former Chairman, ISRO
The IC Centre for Governance organized the 2nd Sardar Patel Lecture on Governance, 19th February, 2022, which was delivered by Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Former Chairman ISRO, MP (Rajya Sabha) and Member, Planning Commission. The lecture was well-attended by close to a hundred people.
Welcome by Shri Mahesh Kapoor, Former Advisor, Planning Commission
Shri Mahesh Kapoor, Former Advisor, Planning Commission and Vice President of ICCfG, welcomed everyone and said that it was a real pleasure to have someone of the stature of Dr. Kasturirangan to speak to the audiences, and that every word of his will be worth listening to. He mentioned that the first Sardar Patel Lecture was conducted two years ago and was delivered by the Hon’ble Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu. The second lecture was originally planned to be held at IIC but had to be shifted online due to the pandemic.
Opening Remarks by Shri Prabhat Kumar, Former Cabinet Secretary & Former Governor of Jharkhand and President IC Centre of Governance
Shri Prabhat Kumar, Former Cabinet Secretary and President of ICCfG, in his opening remarks, mentioned how ICCfG was conceived as a multi-stakeholder alliance to deliberate on governance in general and public governance in particular. Its activities include advocacy, research on governance issues, training programmes for encouraging ethics in public service, bringing out regular publications like The Journal of Governance, and has also started an ICCfG Fellowship Programme. Internet searches revealed that no regular lecture on governance was being organized by any institution, and ICCfG came up with the Sardar Patel Lecture on Governance to fill up this lacuna.
He spoke about the correlation between the spread of development and the quality of governance. The IC Centre believes that governance is too serious a matter to be left only to the people in government; the involvement of people in governance individually and collectively is not only desirable, but necessary. Governance is nota static concept, and it changes with time and context. It needs to be reinvented and redefined. However, certain characteristics of governance do not change, as were expressed by a stalwart like Sardar Patel who laid the foundation of political democracy in India. He was an important member of the Constituent Assembly, a wise statesman and is rightly referred to as the Iron Man of India. His role as the founder of modern India is unparalleled. We should revisit the political values of Sardar Patel in the light of emerging developments.
Shri PrabhatKumar quoted Sardar Patel, where, among other things, he had said that he visualized an India where caste and community will disappear and we will live as Indians. Shri Kumar also quoted extracts from the first Sardar Patel Lecture delivered by Shri Venkaiah Naidu, wherein he had said that in a rapidly changing world, public institutions cannot remain rigid, and the civil servants have to adopt work ethics with national welfare at the core.
Shri Kumar said that Dr. Kasturirangan was an extraordinary man with an extraordinary life. He was the one who explained to him the potential of space research and gave him a glimpse into the world of ISRO. His multifaceted personality emerges when one reads his recently published autobiography. Dr. Kasutrirangan was selected by Vikram Sarabhai in late 1960s, after which he worked at and built ISRO from strength to strength for more than 3 decades. It was under the able leadership of Dr. Kasturirangan that ISRO reached major milestones of PSLV, GLSV, and more. Beginning from Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Shri Narendra Modi, successive Prime Ministers have shown great faith in him and entrusted important responsibilities on his shoulders. ICCfG was very grateful to Shri Kasturirangan for accepting the request to deliver the 2nd Sardar Patel Lecture.
Address by Dr. K. Kasturirangan Former Chairman, ISRO, MP (Rajya Sabha) & Member Planning Commission
Dr. Kasturirangan thanked Shri PrabhatKumar and said that it was a privilege for him to deliver the lecture and that he was delighted to accept this honor. He said that it was a task of tremendous responsibility as the first lecture was delivered by none other than the Hon’ble Vice President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu. He said he had to follow some hallowed footsteps, and people may even question if a man of science has authority to speak on governance.
Science and governance are intended towards a better quality of life for all. Science can make a marked positive difference in human life but also has grave dangers lurking within, similar to what we are witnessing in the deadly pandemic
He expressed his deep gratitude to ICCfG and said that the significance of an institution like ICCfG was very important in a democracy, with its national and international reach. He mentioned the recent book of Shri Prabhat Kumar, ‘Public Service Ethics- A Quest for Naitik Bharat’ as a very unique discussion on ethics in public service with some exceptional thoughts by the author gathered through his remarkable journey in public life. He had a great association with Shri Prabhat Kumar when he was Secretary to the Department ofSpace and Shri Kumar was the Cabinet Secretary. He said that Shri Kumar provided a lot of support in the smooth functioning of the department and thanked him for the same.
Dr. Kasturirangan said that Sardar Patel is one the tallest leaders in India’s freedom movement and an epitome of sacrifices that he made for the country. One cannot ever forget his role in consolidating the princely states after independence, his vision for an All IndiaCivil Services and his handling of the tragic aftermath of India’s partition. His strong conviction was what led to the harmonization of conflicting forces. The character of Sardar Patel displayed living values that emerged from the Indian soil. He demonstrated how these values can play a role in good governance. His pragmatic and rational approach was unparalleled.
Compartmentalizing science and governance can be highly limiting. He explained the concept of ‘pure research’ and ‘translational research’. The former deals with exploring the unknown, adding to existing scientific knowledge base and wisdom, and its fruits really yield tangible results in the society through ‘translational research’. Pure research requires unfettered thinking and its governance must operate with a degree of tolerance towards the rule so the game.
Translational research is associated with developmental programmes and encouraging such research often demands a major interdisciplinary approach.
The journey from pure research to translational research requires a governance design to deal with issues effectively. Such an endeavour can have its own sets of rules and there is complexity of linking involved.
He then narrated how India’s space programme was able to deliver assured outcomes in a timely manner.
The first two decades of the Space Programme witnessed the combined tenures of Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan.
India was facing severe challenges in the aftermath of independence and the foresight of Vikram Sarabhai played a big role in India’s space programme. He was a visionary and having a vision is a basic driver for all human initiative. His vision helped India build a space programme that could be used for peaceful purposes and development of the country. He focused on self-reliance of India and proceeded keeping in mind the country’s socio-economic conditions. For him, India’s dependence on foreign sources was a cause for concern and he felt the urgency to develop indigenous satellites for space communication. Four satellites of the 1st generation were developed indigenously, which later helped in the development of second generation of indigenous satellites.
Sarabhai was an exceptional scientist and he recognized that India was a hotbed of excellent scientists. He developed a generation of young scientists to manage India’s space programme. He had personal contacts with the top scientists of the world as well, including at NASA.
Research has a number of parallels with governance, where originality, creativity, out of the box thinking and looking at problems with multiplicity of dimensions is concerned. For example, in understanding cosmic radiation from outer space, Dr. Kasturiranganhad to understand physics, astronomy, communication, team work, etc.
Sarabhai realized that the space programme cannot grow in isolation and he started large scale consultations with user agencies outside the space system. Unfortunately, his life was cut short soon after, and he was succeeded by M.G. K. Menon. Under him, in 1972, the ‘August Seminar for Space’ was held, in which 78 different organizations participated, and jointly identified critical programmes for the country. It involved interdepartmental work with various stakeholders.
Satish Dhawan succeeded Menon and consolidated the diverse set of activities initiated previously. His work can be seen in three phases, along with associated evolution of governance structures. Space emerged as a vantage point for addressing national needs as well.
With rapid developments in technology, the government felt the need for more organization and developed the Space Commission (of which Shri Prabhat Kumar was also a member at one time) that reports directly to the Prime Minister and thus derives strength from the highest level.
Satish Dhawan further refined governance structures in the space programme. He had a strategy to develop in house expertise for the satellite mission and sought to build a legacy in space. In this, principles of governance were involved, like clear accountability, numerous checks and balances, mid-course changes, management techniques, and more. Project oriented structures were developed with inter-departmental interaction keeping in mind multi-stakeholder interests. One can learn from Dhawan’s structured way of getting things done with well-defined rules and focus on deliverables and innovative service goals.
In emerging as a major space power, India looked at all kinds of approaches and then arrived at the best one. The goal for self-reliance was clear, and whenever there was a question of whether to buy or build, it was always‘ build’. It was because of many such unique factors that we didn’t get stuck in projects.
Dhawan had trust in the engineering ability of India and our engineers came up with the best designs in remote sensing satellites. Since launch vehicle technology is as important as building the satellites, both areas proceeded parallelly and resulted in timely establishment of space services.
An industrial base for the space programme was also developed where Indian industry helped in manufacturing for the space programme. Sarabhai was an industrialist and a scientist. Dhawan pushed the internal output to move up in value chain with focus on R&D. He identified highly qualified professionals without increasing the number of staff. An institutional framework was built. All the stakeholders had a say in what kind of space systems they were looking for, and together defined the space goals of ISRO. Such an institutional structure developed by Dhawan is unique to India and is beautiful due to the involvement of multiple stakeholders.
In the present times, space technology has new roles and actors and involves robotics, study of planetary bodies, issues of sustainability and more. There is a need for further emphasis on accountability. A new approach is needed towards governance in space, with more and more strategic and commercial international collaborations. Private sector participation is also increasing. There are issues emerging with technology transfer from ISRO and satellite manufacture and auxiliary services, especially related with confidentiality and national security. The need for transformative change has been recognized by the government and the restructuring of ISRO is a pleasant move.
A strategic response is needed for India in the new arena with multilateral and bilateral cooperation. India can lead space missions, be part of planetary exploration, play an important part in international missions for disaster management through space technology and much more.
Space is the common province of all humankind, including the moon and other celestial bodies. However, this can also trigger intense competition for the use of resources.
We can hope that the human mind will transcend the earthly mind and even emerge as multiplanetary species; that we will transcend wars and other upheavals, that humanistic values will transcend national boundaries and transcend all humanity; that we will recognize the rights of all people, including the marginalized.
There is a need for renaissance in governance (of space?) where governance systems should recognize the forces of globalization and dangers like climate change. India has been a lamp in this area since long with time-tested values and limitless magnificence of beneficial coexistence and growth. Our values manifest through strong leaders like Sardar Patel, who act like beacons leading us on the right path for our future journey.
In the end, Dr. Kasturirangan thanked some people who had helped him in preparing the manuscript for this lecture, and wished India good luck and progress.
Shri Mahesh Kapoor thanked Dr. Kasturirangan for a most insightful and magnificent lecture, narrating the story of developments in governance of our space programmes, the role of Vikram Sarabhai’s foresight and the organizational skills of Dhawan, the role of technology and human resources. Space is the future. Space requires values. Space requires governance.
Shri Prabhat Kumar also thanked Dr. Kasturirangan for his brilliant address. He said that there were a number of things to be learnt from the lecture, which may be discussed sometime later, like the importance of a systemic, interdisciplinary approach keeping the outcome in mind, and more.
He said that ICCfG would like to interact with him the next time he would be in Delhi, and hear from him about the drafting of the New Education Policy.
Click to view the Proceedings of the Second Sardar Patel Lecture on Governance