ISRO scientists resigning: Government tightens rules

After a spate of resignations from scientists involved in key ISRO missions, the Department of Space has taken a major administrative step.

After a series of resignations by scientists associated with crucial missions like ISRO's Gaganyaan, the Department of Space (DoS) has taken a significant administrative decision. Now, the final decision on resignations and Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) cases of such scientists will be directly made by the DoS to ensure that projects of national importance are not adversely affected.

In light of the increasing resignations of scientists, the Department of Space has tightened the rules. An internal memorandum issued on July 14 has altered the process for handling resignations and VRS cases of scientists working on Gaganyaan and other important missions. This decision was revealed in a report by The Times of India.

According to The Times of India, the Department of Space has not officially released the number of resigning scientists. However, several sources within ISRO claim that at least 100 to 120 scientists and employees have left the organisation in the past few months. Approximately 80 people have resigned from the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) alone, while at least 20 employees have left the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). Some other cases are still in process, so this number may increase.

According to an earlier report by The Times of India,

almost half of the employees recruited between 2004 and 2007 later left the organisation. Meanwhile, according to government data, around 700 employees resigned from ISRO between 2012 and 2024.

Senior officials like Victor Joseph, the LVM-3 Project Director at VSSC, are also reported to be among those who have resigned. Additionally, the Project Director of the SpaDeX mission at URSC has left the organisation. A talented young scientist associated with the Chandrayaan-3 mission has also recently resigned.

ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan acknowledged that

some scientists are leaving the organisation. However, he stated that the agency is fully prepared to handle this situation. He mentioned that in any large organisation, the movement of people is natural. The new step is not just to retain employees but to ensure that no significant project is suddenly affected. If a scientist leaves the organisation, another officer will be ready to take over their responsibilities.

At first glance, 100-120 resignations may not seem like a large number compared to ISRO's workforce of over 14,600 employees. However, concerns have grown because many of these scientists were associated with the country's most important space projects and strategic centres. By the end of the last financial year, URSC had 1,339 employees, while ISRO's largest centre, VSSC, had 4,577 employees. The departure of experienced and expert scientists is considered a significant challenge for the organisation.

This concern can be understood through the example of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. The mission's Project Manager (Simulation), Aditya Rallapalli, led the team that prepared about 25 terabytes of data based on over one lakh tests. This data proved crucial in verifying the successful landing process of Chandrayaan-3. The Department of Space's memorandum also states that in recent days, a large number of resignations and VRS applications have been received from Group 'A' scientific and technical staff, especially those associated with Gaganyaan and other projects of national importance. This could affect the timely completion of these projects.

According to the new directives,

resignation or voluntary retirement applications from scientists associated with Gaganyaan and other projects of national importance will not be accepted under normal circumstances.

Centre directors have been advised not to approve such applications until the relevant project is completed. All such cases will now be sent directly to the Department of Space (DoS) for a final decision with the recommendation of the centre director. This decision partially reverses a significant administrative change made in 2020. An order issued on November 25, 2020, had granted directors of various ISRO centres and unit heads the authority to accept resignations and VRS of Group-A scientific and technical staff (up to Scientist/Engineer-SG level).

Now, in matters related to scientists associated with Gaganyaan and other projects of national importance, this authority has effectively been withdrawn, and the final decision will be made directly by the Department of Space. Employee turnover in ISRO is not a new phenomenon. Experts believe that it cannot be solely attributed to the growing opportunities in the private space sector.