(a) whether the Government has decided to use space technologies for a variety of public services and set an ambition in this regard and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government has prepared any roadmap in this regard and if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the details of the funding and other research and development initiatives taken by the Government to achieve the above said objectives?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PG & PENSIONS AND IN THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH):
(a) In India, space technology is being primarily used as a tool to enable variety of public services by various Central Ministries/Departments, State Governments, Public & Private enterprises. A few of such public services include – (i) Television, Direct-To-Home (DTH) & Radio broadcasting, (ii) Telecommunication, (iii) Weather forecasting and Disaster early warning for Cyclone & Tsunami, (iv) Emergency Communication during disaster events, (v) Agriculture and fishing zone advisories, (vi) Tele-education and Tele-medicine services. Also, many governmental programmes / schemes utilising space technology as input offer direct / indirect benefits to public. A few of these include – Ground Water Prospect zones, watershed development, urban & rural infrastructure planning and development, rural connectivity etc.
(b) The roadmap includes providing the continuity of space technology tools for the existing public service with improved technological capabilities and development of technology for enabling newer services viz. location based services, geospatial services for ease of doing business and synergy of satellite communication, navigation & earth observation in planning, monitoring and evaluation of developmental activities in various sectors.
(c) To enable the above activities, ISRO plans to realise communication satellites and earth observation satellites, associated ground segments and development of application tools/techniques. The funds for the above are the integral part of the annual plan of the department.
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