Chandrayaan 3: Digvijaya Singh slammed for claiming ISRO scientists haven't received salary in 17 months

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday said that ISRO scientists haven't received their salary in 17 months, days after a similar claim was debunked by the fact-checking arm of the Government of India Press Information Bureau. On the day of Chandrayaan 3's attempt to land on the lunar surface, the veteran Congress leader said that the prime minister should take note of the salary disbursal of ISRO scientists.

“We are proud that ISRO scientists are making an effort for the successful lunar landing of Chandryaan. We pray to the Almighty for their success. But there are reports in newspapers that the scientists who made this happen have not received a salary in 17 months. Prime Minister should take note of this too,” Singh told ANI.

Hitting out at the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya tweeted, “The abominable Digvijay Singh called out for peddling #FakeNews on the day ISRO is all set to make India proud. Congress hates Prime Minister Modi, but it hates a strong resurgent India even more, because a confident India will never vote for the Congress.”

“While India celebrates Chandrayaan-3, Congress whines.”

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Entrepreneur and political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla made a similar claim recently at a podcast saying the ISRO scientists were not paid salaries for three months.

During an episode of 'The Ranveer Show podcast', Poonawalla claimed “ISRO scientists haven’t been paid salaries for the last three months. Is that fair? And that’s my issue with this government. We’re very proud of ISRO. It’s a great organisation. Three-month salaries have not been paid, and feel free to fact-check me on this.”

PIB Fact Check later debunked the claim saying ISRO scientists receive their salaries on the last day of each month.