Lok Sabha Question No. 347 (STARRED), answered on 2021-03-19
Subject: Genome India Project
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Vincent H Pala

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *347 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.03.2021

## Genome India Project

## *347. SHRI VINCENT H. PALA:

## Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

be pleased to state:

participated  in  it  so  far  and  the  extent  to  which  genome  sequencing  targets  have  been accomplished;

(b) whether as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative, the Government labs have been barred from placing orders under Rs. 200 crore to import plastics and other materials required for genome sequencing thereby obstructing the ongoing progress of the project, if so, the details thereof and response of the Government thereto;

(c)  whether  the  Government  has  identified  alternative  local  sources  for  such  materials  and conducted a feasibility analysis for the same; and

(d) the details of proposed organisations having access to the data under the said project and the ethical guidelines being followed in the project to prevent misuse of data?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE; MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; AND MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

(a), (b), (c) & (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  IN  RESPECT  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  *347  TO  BE

(a) In the Genome India Project so far, 4745 individuals have been recruited for the study. 759 samples out of these have undergone Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and 1161 samples have undergone Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) on high throughput arrays.

(b)& (c) The Department of Expenditure (DoE), Government of India vide OM No. F.12/17/2019PPD  dated  15.05.2020  amended  Rule  161(iv)(b)  of  General  Financial  Rules  (GFRs)  2017 stipulating that no Global Tender Enquiry (GTE) shall be invited for tenders upto Rs. 200 crores or such limit as may be prescribed by Department of Expenditure from time to time. However, in exceptional cases, where the Ministry or Department feels that there are special reasons for GTE, it may record its detailed justification and seek prior approval for relaxation to the above rules for the Competent Authority. Further, Department of Expenditure vide OM No. F.20/45/2020-PPD dated 08.01.2021 stipulated that for procurement of specialized equipment required for research purposes  and  spares  &  consumables  for  such  equipment  upto  Rs.  200  crores  for  the  use  of educational and research institutes, Secretary of concerned Administrative Ministry/ Department shall be the Competent Authority to approve issue of GTEs.

The Genome India Project was sanctioned in mid-January 2020. The project was already started before issue of the said OM of DoE. The project progress was initially slowed down due to COVID-19 pandemic, and was not obstructed due to the government order on GTE.  Now, the pace at which the Genome India project is progressing is reassuring that it would be completed well in time.

(d) All information about the subjects is anonymized and given a barcode. Thus, the privacy of  the  individuals  is  protected  as  mandated  by  ethical  guidelines.  Samples,  socio-demographic information, phenotypic data, and genetic data are being barcoded and stripped of all identifying information  (anonymized)  of  the  participant  and  stored  in  a  secure  manner.  Only  properly anonymized data is being made available to researchers and investigators of this project as per the standard operating procedure of the project.

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