Fact Check: Tehseen Poonawalla's Claims About ISRO Salaries Is False

Former Bigg Boss participant and popular entrepreneur and political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla on August 15 appeared on a podcast episode of "The Ranveer Show," hosted by popular podcaster and YouTuber Beerbiceps.

During the podcast, Poonawalla claims and challenged the host to fact-check them. He asserted that ISRO scientists had not received salaries for three months.

Poonawalla claimed that ISRO scientists hadn't been paid salaries for the past three months. He stated, "ISRO scientists haven't been paid salaries for the last three months." This statement, however, is inaccurate. The context behind this claim involves a specific incident related to the launch of Chandrayaan 3 in July 2023. Reports emerged that engineers who worked on the launchpad for the project, employed by the public sector undertaking Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), did not receive salaries for months due to financial difficulties faced by HEC.

HEC, a PSU under the Ministry of Heavy Industries, is situated in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The company has been grappling with a financial crisis for several years, leading to delayed salary payments for its employees. Media outlets, including some clickbait headlines, inaccurately linked this issue to ISRO scientists, creating a misconception that has since been perpetuated.

In reality, ISRO scientists receive their salaries on the last day of each month, as confirmed by PIB Fact Check.

In conclusion, Tehseen Poonawalla's claims about ISRO scientists not receiving salaries for three months is false and misleading. The issue of delayed salary payments was specific to HEC, not ISRO scientists.