Sarabhai took India to a space of progress, says Kovind

At a time when the whole world was using space technology for military domination, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai firmly believed that it could, for a country of India’s size and diversity, provide a platform for fast-track development, President Ram Nath Kovind has said.

The President was addressing, via videoconference, the valedictory function of the celebrations jointly organised by the Departments of Space and Atomic Energy to mark the birth centenary of Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India’s space programme, on Friday.

Today, when the COVID-19 pandemic failed to interrupt school education that continued in the remote learning mode, the nation realised the significance of Dr. Sarabhai’s dream, the President said. It was Dr. Sarabhai’s dream that one day India’s masses would have their education through television, he said.

“A man of singular charm, he was full of humility that masked his tall achievements. He was a world-class scientist, a policy maker and also an institution-builder—the rarest of rare combination. He achieved it all in a relatively short span of time, as if he knew his end was near. His life unfortunately was cut short too early. We wonder where India’s space science would have reached if he could have served the nation for long,” he said.

Mr. Kovind also recalled how one of his predecessors, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, remembered Dr. Sarabhai fondly and called him “a great teacher”.