Stalin fetes 9 ISRO scientists from Tamil Nadu, announces award of ₹25 lakh each

“Today, however, the state has so many stalwarts in the field of science,” Stalin said, listing the names of the noted ISRO personalities who hail from the state. 

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ISRO chairman and other felicitated

Former ISRO chairman Sivan, Chandrayaan (1 and 2) project director Mylswamy Annadurai, and Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre-ISRO V Narayanan were among those honoured on Monday.  

Director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre A Rajarajan, distinguished ISRO scientist M Sankaran, and Chandrayaan-3 project director P Veeramuthuvel were also among those who were felicitated.

ISRO’s M Vanitha and Nigar Shaji and ISRO-Propulsion Complex Director J Asir Packiaraj are the others who were feted by the Chief Minister on Monday.

All from humble beginnings

Speaking of the Tamil language, the Chief Minister said it is all about scientific knowledge. He also expressed pride at the fact that of the nine scientists, six had studied in government schools in the state.

They are from humble family backgrounds, born in small towns and, by educating themselves, they have seen personal development, he said. First-generation graduates, they became scientists and among the nine, two are women, which symbolises social justice, he added.  

Tamil Nadu’s young generation should emulate them and grow, he said. Underlining that all three project directors for Chandrayaan 1 (Mylswamy), 2 (Vanitha) and 3 (Veeramuthuvel) hail from Tamil Nadu, he said that this made the state proud. 

To celebrate it, Stalin said he was making two announcements. One, a sum of ₹25 lakh would be provided to each of the nine scientists in recognition of their hard work. “I appeal to you to accept it and bring more and more laurels to India,” the Chief Minister said.

Dr. K. Sivan, Dr. Mayilsamy Annadurai, Dr. V. Narayanan, Thiru. A. Rajarajan, Thiru. M. Sankaran, Thiru. J. Asir Packiaraj, Tmt. M. Vanitha, Tmt. Nigar Shaji, and Dr. Veeramuthuvel have made India and Tamil Nadu proud!

Honoured to felicitate these remarkable space scientists… pic.twitter.com/Bph9xNNxYc

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) October 2, 2023

Also Read: 2 ISRO scientists, alumni of TN govt schools, recall how it was

Scholarship named after the scientists

Second, a scholarship named after renowned scientists would be provided to nine postgraduate engineering students to nurture the spirit to create scientific inventions, he said, adding that a ₹10 crore corpus would be set up for this purpose. 

All expenditure, including tuition and hostel fees, would be borne by the government, he added. 

Government school students who studied undergraduate engineering courses by availing of the 7.5 percent reservation (and received financial assistance for the UG course from the government) for state-run school students are eligible for the PG scholarship. 

Stalin lauded the scientists for bringing laurels to Tamil Nadu and presented them with shawls and mementoes. 

Ministers, including K Ponmudi (Higher Education), Durai Murugan (Water Resources), EV Velu (Public Works), Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena, and senior officials took part in the event.

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