The government gave him and eight of his state colleagues ₹ 25 lakh each as a reward for that incredible achievement...
Digital Desk: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists' engineering skill was showcased during the Chandrayaan-3 mission, and now their charitable deeds are establishing them as new icons of philanthropy. The hands-on leader of the lander Vikram, who is still in debt for his home loan, has given his alma institution more than two years' worth of his salary.
The 46-year-old project director of Chandrayaan-3, Dr. P Veeramuthuvel, is the son of a railway technician, and he led the historic soft landing on the moon.
On Gandhi Jayanti, the Tamil Nadu government gave him and eight of his state colleagues ₹ 25 lakh each as a reward for that incredible achievement. At this point, he has decided to give the whole sum to the alumni associations of the universities he attended.
The ₹ 25 lakh award money will be donated to the alumni associations of the Raja Serforji Government Arts and Science College in Thanjavur and the Thanthai Periyar Government Arts and Science College in Thiruchirapalli by another scientist, Dr M Sankaran, the Director of the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru.
According to Dr. Veeramuthuvel, the reason Chandrayaan's accomplishment was "more about we and less about me" was that the award needed to be shared, and the best place to distribute it was to the institutions that influenced him.
"My conscience was not permitting me to take this large amount of award money, hence donation was the best option," said Dr. Veeramuthuvel.
The rocket scientist claimed that this was the first award money he had ever received.
With a monthly take-home pay of approximately ₹1 lakh, Dr. Veeramuthuvel donates more than two years' worth of potential earnings to his alma mater.
"Despite being from a poor family and studying at a government railway school in Villupuram, money does not mean much to me. It is fulfilling that ISRO provides us with a rich atmosphere in which we can contribute to national growth," Dr Veeramuthuvel stated.
Dr. Veeramuthuvel took a load of ₹ 72 lakh from the State Bank of India to build his home, and he is still paying that loan. However, he asserted that the ₹ 25 lakh windfall is not his to keep.
Kavita Balasubramani, the spouse of Dr. Veeramuthuvel, is a homemaker, and their daughter attends a Coimbatore gurukulam.
Dr Veeramuthuvel claimed to have worked at least 80 hours a week for four exhausting years, from 2019 to 2023. His remarks come just a few days after NR Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys, ignited a debate by suggesting that young people should work seventy hours a week.
"A Herculean task of a successful soft-landing on the Moon had to be achieved and all through these four years, I didn't take a single vacation or holiday," stated Dr. Veeramuthuvel.
Dr Veeramuthuvel wants to equally divide the ₹ 25 lakh award among the alumni associations of Elumalai Polytechnic College, Villupuram; Sri Sairam Engineering College, West Tambaram, Chennai; National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirapalli; and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, according to a letter written by Sandhya Venugopal Sharma, the additional secretary for the Department of Space, to the Tamil Nadu government.
No prizes have been announced for the outstanding lunar accomplishment by ISRO or the central government. There have been requests for the 150-person Chandrayaan-3 core team to receive ten increments and for ISRO as a whole to receive a specially produced gold coin, but these have not yet been granted.
A special decision by the cabinet was passed by the government. The space community was also commended by the parliament for this gratifying moment.
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