Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi attended a special session at the National Meet

PM addresses special session of National Meet on Promoting Space Technology based Tools and Applications in Governance and Development


The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today attended a special session at the National Meet on Promoting Space Technology based Tools and Applications in Governance and Development, in New Delhi. 


The Prime Minister was given a series of presentations over nearly two hours, by senior officials, on the outcomes of various theme sessions during the meet. 

In his remarks at the special session, the Prime Minister emphasized the need for new initiatives in all areas of governance, using space technology applications. He recalled his visit to ISRO in June 2014, when he had urged ISRO to work on this, and expressed satisfaction that the number of Government departments using space technology had gone up substantially since the time of that visit. 

The Prime Minister called upon all Ministries of the Union Government to identify at least one space application in their work within the calendar year 2015. 

The Prime Minister recalled the eminent space scientist Vikram Sarabhai's words on the costs of India's space programme, who had said that no effort should be spared in the objective of fulfilling the needs of India's common man. The Prime Minister said he was happy to note the high degree of enthusiasm among government departments to use space technology in their respective areas of governance. He emphasized on the need to make use of all available resources and data, to derive best results. 

The Prime Minister gave a number of illustrations on possible applications of space technology for the benefit of the common man: location of fish catches for fishermen, irrigation infrastructure for Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, tracking of illegal mining etc. 

Shri Narendra Modi said technology is the most powerful medium that the Government has to ensure good governance, transparency and accountability. He emphasized that there should be no "space" between the common man and space. 

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Prime Minister addresses National Meet on “Promoting Space Technology based Tools and Applications in Governance & Development” 

No space should be left between the common man and space technology, says Prime Minister 

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the National Meet on “Promoting Space Technology based Tools and Applications in Governance & Development” at a function organised in New Delhi today. The one-day National Meet provided an opportunity for interaction amongst ministries/departments and state governments towards enhanced utilization of the space technology in governance and development. The basic objective of the meet include harnessing the benefits of space technology in planning and development process, preserving eco-system, better managing and conversing country’s natural resources and improving disaster management support through synergy of Remote Sensing, Communication and navigation based solutions. It also aims to help the states by building state level geospatial data repository and delivering state specific applications. 

Emphasizing upon the need of using space technology for the benefit of common man, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said that no space should be left between the common man and the space technology. The technology should be utilised for the benefit of the common man. Technology is a driving force with huge impact. He asked all departments to from one cell for technology where the youth with scientific temper can work for the promotion of technology. He also said that capacity building can be done through human resource development for which ISRO can work in coordination with HRD Ministry and state governments. He also called for “Start-up India, Stand-up India” initiative to be implemented with regard to science. The Prime Minister appealed to the youth with scientific temper for “start-up” in the field of technology. 

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh while inaugurating the meet earlier in the day said that the past one year has been a period of glory for the Department of Space under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. He said that India has become a world power in the field of space technology. India is earning huge income by launching foreign satellites and has entered into an era of space marketing. The Minister told that space technology has been of great help in natural calamities like floods in Jammu and Kashmir and earthquake in Nepal. He also suggested that a Hall of Space can be set up in National Capital Delhi on the lines of Hall of Nuclear Energy that is being set up in Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. 

Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary, Department of Space, Shri A. S. Kiran Kumar said that the initiative of use of space technology has received overwhelming response from all ministries and departments. He said that the space technology can be useful for the flagship programmes of the Government including Digital India and Clean Ganga Mission. He also gave presentation on the “Strategies & Way Forward” with respect to space technology and on the “Indian Space Programme” during the national meet. 

During the inaugural session, the Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, Shri Arvind Panagariya said that the ISRO is one of the six largest space agencies in the world and the most cost-effective space agency of all. He recalled that Prime Minister himself had mentioned that India’s Mars Mission is less costly than the cost of making the Hollywood movie ‘Gravity’. He mentioned that space technology is helpful for various ministries and departments such as agriculture, earth sciences, forests, land resources, drinking water and urban development. Here the space technology is being used for various applications such as crop forecasting, potential fisheries zones, wasteland development, city master plans etc. He also mentioned that IRNSS series of satellites once operationalised in 2016, will provide critical data on natural resources of the country. 

During the inaugural session, the Cabinet Secretary, Shri P. K. Sinha said that this meet is the outcome of the suggestion given by Prime Minister in June, 2014 in Sriharikota where he had advised to maximize the use of space technology. He said that 18 expert teams were constituted within ISRO in order to hold proactive interactions with the Central Ministries regarding use of space technology. Subsequently various projects across ministries/departments have emerged where space technology can be used. The space technology can be helpful for the flagship programmes of the Government, he added. 

During the day, nine Sessions were held on various themes including Agriculture, Energy & Environment, Infrastructure Planning, Water Resources, Technology Diffusion, Developmental Planning, Communication & Navigation, Weather & Disaster Management and Health & Education. The Secretaries of Central Ministries/Departments presented joint action plans on effective utilization of Space Technology to enhance functional effectiveness, facilitate planning and decision making. The Chairs of these nine theme sessions presented the salient outcomes of the sessions in the august presence of the Prime Minister. 

Various areas were identified for the use of space technology including environment impact assessment, forest fire alert system, GIS based infrastructure planning, geo-morphological mapping for mining, mapping of protected areas & coastal zones, asset management, satellite communication for remote regions, toll information system for NH on Bhuvan portal, site management plan for tourist places under ASI, GAGAN based Geo-tagging and 3D visualization, potential fishing zone information, water bodies & ground water prospects mapping, countryside DTH coverage through expansion of private channel network served by additional satellite transponders, tele-education and disease surveillance and occupational health among others. Various challenges including sharing of data to avoid duplication of efforts and integration between the states and other departments and limited capacity were also discussed during the meet. 

The Officials from Prime Minister Office & Cabinet Secretariat, Secretaries, Special Secretaries, Additional Secretaries, Joint Secretaries and Senior Officials of all the Ministries/Departments, Chief Secretaries of all States/Union Territories, Principal Secretaries and senior officials of the State Line Departments and Academia/Institutions and functionaries from Department of Space/ISRO were also present on the occasion.