Lok Sabha Question No. 1336 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-02-11
Subject: Digital Library
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: RAJENDRA AGRAWAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1336 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.02.2019

## Digital Library

## 1336. SHRI RAJENDRA AGRAWAL:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- a)  Whether the Government has taken some firm steps to strengthen traditional knowledge  through  the  digital  Library  in  the  country  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- b)  whether the Government is planning to link intellectual property with research fellowship and promotion in national laboratories, institutions and Universities and if so, the details thereof;
- c)  whether the Government  plans to include intellectual property in the curriculum of schools and colleges; and
- d)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  in  this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

## (DR. SATYA PAL SINGH)

(a)        Yes.  The  Traditional  Knowledge  Digital  Library  (TKDL)  has  been  set  up  by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in collaboration with the Ministry of  Ayurveda,  Yoga  &  Naturopathy,  Unani,  Siddha  and  Homeopathy  (AYUSH)  to prevent  misappropriation  of  and  to  protect  Indian  traditional  knowledge  mainly  at International  Patent  Offices.  TKDL  contains  Indian  traditional  medicine  knowledge available  in  public  domain  from  classical/  traditional  books  related  to  Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha in a digitized format and is available in five international languages (English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese). So far about 3.5 lakh formulations have been transcribed in TKDL.

(b) to (d)  CSIR has a policy in place to deal with the intellectual property arising out of  the  research  work  carried  out  by  CSIR  supported  research  fellows.  The  policy deals with the commercial exploitation of the results and ownership of patent rights pertaining  to  investigations  concerning  the  intellectual  work  of  the  CSIR  research fellows/associates. The salient points of the policy are:

- I. Public funded educational/research institution, to which a fellow is associated, may seek patent right at their own cost and/or commercial exploitation of the results of the investigation concerning the Intellectual work of the fellow and all  rights  would  vest  exclusively  with  the  Institution  concerned.  All  matters concerning ownership of IP and its licensing/exploitation are governed by the IP policy of the concerned institutions; and
- II. In  case an institution, to which a fellow is associated, is not in a position to seek  patent  rights  and/or  commercial  exploitation  of  the  results  of  the investigation  concerning  the  intellectual  work  of  the  fellow,  CSIR  at  its  own cost may seek the patent rights and/or commercial exploitation of the results of the intellectual work of the fellow and all rights would vest exclusively with CSIR.

Content  on  Intellectual  Property  Right  (IPRs)  has  been  included  in  the  National Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training  (NCERT)  curriculum  of  Business Studies.  A  Training  of  Trainers  Module  to  aid  school  teachers  in  teaching  basic concepts of Intellectual Property has also been prepared.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has approved the 'Scheme for Pedagogy & Research in IPRs for Holistic Education and Academia (SPRIHA) with the vision to facilitate intellectual property education and research in IPRs by setting up IPR chairs in colleges and universities. The scheme envisages inclusion of IPR as a mandatory credit course at under graduate level.

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