I know I am running as late as the central railway train during monsoons so far as expressing my views on Mangalyaan is concerned. I was planning to write this for a long time but somehow never got down to write it. In Nov, 2013 ISRO became the 4th agency in the world to accomplish this feat. One would have expected people to be extremely praiseworthy of the same, and most of them were. But as always, you also had a group of people explaining as to why it was a waste of money. I am sure everyone is entitled to his opinion but I fail to understand why we criticize achievements like these. Total cost of the project is around 450 cr. The number is huge but pales in comparison to our defense budget of around 2 lacs cr plus. In percentage terms, cost of this mission is approx 0.23% of the defense budget!
I agree, such comparisons are unfair as country’s security is of prime importance and budgeting for country’s defense is always on the priority list (however, how much money should be spent on ammunition has been the topic of many debates). Logic being that a belligerent but sane entity will not try to harm you if it sees you as someone who is loaded with latest ammunition and capable of striking back. One will only attack those who are not prepared for it. It is amazing how countries spend on ammunition to avoid wars which will necessitate its usage! Despite everyone knowing the dangers of weapons’ usage, they are forced to spend on it as some rogue entity may not think twice about the consequences before attacking someone. So defense spending is thus justified. A businessman also would prefer doing business/investing in a country which is safe and protected. One more reason why people do not mind spending more on defense is because they want to feel safe and eliminate the fear factor. However, when it comes to spending money missions such as Mangalyaan, lot of people look at it as wasting money as they do not see themselves getting benefited from it. These are the same people who wish their children to become engineers one day without realizing those very engineers will then dream of working on such missions in future!
Like good defense shows India’s military strength, missions such as these help showcase India’s intellectual power and it should be encouraged in every way possible. One may argue those 450 cr could have been utilized for some other purpose, but we should appreciate the fact that at least it is being utilized for the purpose for which it is allotted and not being siphoned off like we see elsewhere! One should also consider the benefits that will accrue to us and future generations due to missions like these and stop being so narrow minded. Investing in future is not a bad thing after all.
I agree, such comparisons are unfair as country’s security is of prime importance and budgeting for country’s defense is always on the priority list (however, how much money should be spent on ammunition has been the topic of many debates). Logic being that a belligerent but sane entity will not try to harm you if it sees you as someone who is loaded with latest ammunition and capable of striking back. One will only attack those who are not prepared for it. It is amazing how countries spend on ammunition to avoid wars which will necessitate its usage! Despite everyone knowing the dangers of weapons’ usage, they are forced to spend on it as some rogue entity may not think twice about the consequences before attacking someone. So defense spending is thus justified. A businessman also would prefer doing business/investing in a country which is safe and protected. One more reason why people do not mind spending more on defense is because they want to feel safe and eliminate the fear factor. However, when it comes to spending money missions such as Mangalyaan, lot of people look at it as wasting money as they do not see themselves getting benefited from it. These are the same people who wish their children to become engineers one day without realizing those very engineers will then dream of working on such missions in future!
Like good defense shows India’s military strength, missions such as these help showcase India’s intellectual power and it should be encouraged in every way possible. One may argue those 450 cr could have been utilized for some other purpose, but we should appreciate the fact that at least it is being utilized for the purpose for which it is allotted and not being siphoned off like we see elsewhere! One should also consider the benefits that will accrue to us and future generations due to missions like these and stop being so narrow minded. Investing in future is not a bad thing after all.
