Govt has options to perpetuate his memory

In the wake of demands made from different quarters to name or rename various institutions after Bharat Ratna A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, there are quite a few options before the government to perpetuate the memory of the late former Indian president.

The central government could consider renaming the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IISST), of which he was a chancellor from day one. It could also lend Kalam’s name to a next generation rocket or one of the centres of the Indian space agency to pay tributes to the ‘People’s President’. 

India’s space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), could name/rename an institute or a centre under its fold, a rocket under development or a new satellite after the ‘Missile Man’.

During his illustrious career, Kalam had worked at ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala where he played a major role in the development of Space Launch Vehicle, a forerunner to the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle that is the most successful rocket.