Lok Sabha Question No. 1054 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-04
Subject: Traditional Knowledge Digital Library
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: A.P. JITHENDER REDDY, KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYURVEDA, YOGA & NATUROPATHY, UNANI, SIDDHA AND HOMOEOPATHY (AYUSH)

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1054 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH DECEMBER, 2015

## TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDG E DIGITAL LIBRARY

## 1054. SHRI A.P. JITHENDER REDDY:

## SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL:

Will  the  Minister of AYURVEDA,  YOGA  AND  NATUROPATHY,  UNANI, SIDDHA AND HOMOEOPATHY (AYUSH) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has put in place Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) t protect  ancient  and  traditional  knowledge  of  Indian  Medicinal  System  and  heritage  of country;
- (b) if so, the salient features and the present status of implementation th ereof;
- (c) the total cost of the project and the expenditure incurred thereon;
- (d) the impact and benefits arising out of this project; and
- (e)  the further  measures  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  protect  ancient  and  traditi knowledge of indigenous people in the country from bio - piracy?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYURVEDA, YOGA & NATUROPATHY, UNANI, SIDDHA AND HOMOEOPATHY (SHRI SHRIPAD YESSO NAIK)

- (a) : Yes. The Ministry of AYUSH (the then Department of ISM&H) has established Traditional Knowledge  Digital  Library  (TKDL) in  collaboration  with  Council  for  Scientific  &  Indust rial Research (CSIR) for prevention of grant of patents on non - original inventions by International Patent  Offices  like  European  Patent  office,  United  States  Patent  &  Trademark  office, Patent office etc. on Indian Systems of Medicine such as Ayurveda , Unani, and Siddha.
- (b) : As  per  the  information  provided  by  the  CSIR,  TKDL  consists  of  2.93  lakh  medicin formulations of Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha available in public domain, in five interna languages namely English, Japanese, French, German an d Spanish. To facilitate the protection of country's  traditional  knowledge,  access  to  TKDL  has  been  provided  to  International  Patent offices  (IPOs)  under  International  Agreement.  In  addition,  pre -grant  opposition  on  patent applications along with prior art evidences from TKDL are submitted on a regular basis.

Contd…….

(c) : As per the information provided by the CSIR, the implementing agency of the TKDL project, total cost incurred on the project is Rs. 20 Crores approximately.

(d) : As  per  the  information  received  from  CSIR,  till  date  TKDL  has  been  successful preventing the grant of wrong patents in 220 cases.

For further facilitating the prevention of grant of wrong patents at Internationa Offices (IPOs), 10 International Access Agreements on TKDL have been concluded with United States  Patent  &  Trademark  Office,  European  Patent  Office,  Canada  Patent  Office,  Germa Patent  Office,  Japan  Patent  Office,  United  Kingdom  Patent  Office,  Australia  Patent  O Malaysia Patent Of fice, and Chile Patent Office including Indian Patent Office.

(e) :

1. Besides medicinal formulations from Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha; work to include Yog techniques from ancient texts in the TKDL has already been initiated.
2. Apart from bio - piracy, to prevent misappropriation of Yoga, Ministry of AYUSH through Sangeet Natak Akademi (the nodal organization of Ministry of Culture) filed nominatio Yoga  at  UNESCO  from  India  to  include  Yoga  in  the  representative  list  of  the  Intang Cultural Heritage of Human ity.
3. Indian  Patent  Office  had  also  brought  out  Guidelines  for  Processing  Patent  Applica relating to Traditional Knowledge and Biological Material. These Guidelines were bro out  to  help  Patent  examiner  to  analyze  what  constitute  novelty  and  invent ive  step  in Traditional Knowledge (TK) related invention.
4. As per the information provided by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Chan the  Biological  Diversity  Act,  2002  was  enacted  with  the  objectives  of  conservatio biological  resources,  s ustainable  use  of  its  components  and  fair  and  equitable  sharing benefits arising out of the use of biological resources.

Section - 41 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 requires every local body to consti Biodiversity management Committee (BMC) within its area. According to Rule 22 of the Biological  Diversity  Rules,  2004  the  main  function  of  the  BMC  is  to  prepare  People's Biodiversity  Register  in  consultation  with  local  people.  The  Register  shall  c comprehensive information on availability and knowledge of local biological resources, their medicinal or any other use or any other traditional knowledge associated with them.

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