Lok Sabha Question No. 1009 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-03
Subject: Pandemic Research
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: S. Jagathrakshakan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RESEARCH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1009 TO BE ANSWERED ON 3 rd  DECEMBER, 2021

## PANDEMIC RESEARCH

## 1009.   SHRI S. JAGATHRAKSHAKAN:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken any steps to increase funding and strengthen research on pandemic;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor ?

## ANSWER

## THE HON'BLE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARTI PRAVEEN PAWAR)

(a) to (c): A new Scheme 'Prime Minister Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PMABHIM)'  has  been  approved  with  an  outlay  of  Rs.1347.00  crore  for  Department  of  Health Research/Indian  Council  of  Medical  Research  (ICMR)  towards  Bio-security  preparedness  and Strengthening Pandemic Research and Multi - Sector National Institutions and Platform for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26.

Major  activities  approved  under  the  initiative  include  setting  up  of  9  BSL-3  Labs;  Regional Research  Platform  of  the  South  East  Asia  Region  Countries;  4  Zonal  National  Institutes  of Virology (NIVs); Division for Research on Disease Elimination Sciences & Health at National Aids  Research  Institute  (NARI),  Pune;  strengthening  already  functional  Viral  Research  & Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDLs)   and support for various other research institutes/Centres to strengthen research on pandemic.

Besides,  the  Department  of  Science  and  Technology  has  taken  several  steps  to  strengthen research on pandemic. The initiatives include:

- (i) A special call on scientifically identifying relevant yoga and meditation practices for immunity boosting, respiratory toning and stress reduction
- (ii) Formation and support to a group across several IITs and Artificial Intelligence (AI) startups  to  find  Artificial  Intelligence  solutions  to  COVID-19  diagnostics  and predictions.
- (iii) Linked with technology industry such as International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), NVIDIA etc who have agreed to provide resources such as supercomputing time and software stacks pro bono for COVID research.
- (iv) Activation  of  relevant  Department  of  Science  and  Technology  (DST)  autonomous institutions  in  providing  solutions--  a  particularly  successful  institute  has  been  Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Science and Technology which has already come up with over 10 effective products, several of which are of a breakthrough nature and are being commercialized rapidly.
- (v) Centre  for  Augmenting  War  with  COVID-19  Health  Crisis  (CAWACH)  Program  of DST for supporting COVID19 startup solutions from all over the country.
- (vi) A total of 94 projects with total outlay of Rs. 20.56 crore were sanctioned by Science and Engineering  Research Board (SERB).

Centre  for  Scientific  and  Industrial  Research  (CSIR)  is  also  implementing  two  kinds  of  the projects  for  the  purpose.  Under  New  Millennium  Indian  Technology  Leadership  Initiative (NMITLI) Scheme's special call for COVID Projects, 6 projects are being implemented. CSIR had given special call to CSIR labs inviting projects related to coronavirus. In this category, 47 projects  were  supported.  An  amount  of  Rs.7299.244/-  Lakhs  has  been  allocated  for  these projects.

The  Department  of  Biotechnology  (DBT),  is  supporting  the  implementation  of  two  key programmes, the National Biopharma Mission (NBM) and the Ind-CEPI Mission, which, have enabled the strengthening of the national vaccine development ecosystem, so as to effectively respond to pandemics.

Furthermore,  'Mission  COVID  Suraksha-  the  Indian  COVID-19  Vaccine  Development Mission',  was  launched  as  part  of  the  third  stimulus  package,  Atmanirbhar  Bharat  3.0,  for promoting research and development of India COVID-19 vaccines. The Mission is led by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and is implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), at a total cost of Rs. 900 Cr.

The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a multi agency inter-Ministerial Consortium  from  Department  of  Biotechnology  (DBT),  Indian  Council  of  Medical  Research (ICMR),  Council  of  Scientific  and  Industrial  Research  (CSIR),  and  Ministry  of  Health  and Family Welfare (MoHFW), has been established for genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.

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