Dr. Jitendra Singh is a man who wears many hats — author, physician, columnist and a politician. Singh joined Narendra Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party in 2009 and is a member of the party’s National Executive Committee.
The Modi government has appointed him as the Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space, Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, and Development of the NE Region of India.
As minister of state for atomic energy and space, Singh has formulated the space program through 2020. The plan envisages the development of
- advanced launch vehicle systems
- thematic earth observational satellites with improved resolution
- high-power, high-throughput communication satellites
- microwave multi-spectral remote sensing satellites
- weather and climate studies
- constellation of satellites for regional navigation
- development of critical technologies for human spaceflight
- satellites for space science and planetary exploration purposes
He reported that the government was considering setting up a new satellite launching pad, intended to support increased launch frequency, provide active redundancy to existing launch pads and to support launching requirements of advanced launch vehicles. The possible site for this Third Launch Pad has been identified in Sriharikota a barrier island off the coast of the state of Andhra Pradesh on the east coast of India. Singh added that ISRO‘s satellites have improved telecom, long-distance education, and telemedicine in rural and remote areas of the country. He has revised the system of uniform pricing for satellite usage by incorporating a rational classification structure for users. The various categories that form the basis for allocation and pricing of responders are now government, not-for-profit public sector organizations, societal, strategic and commercial. An expert committee has been constituted to carry out detailed analyses of the launch requirements of the Indian Space Research Organization for the next decade, keeping in view that a number of countries have requested India to launch their satellites.
