Centre mulls law to reward scientists

The Centre is planning to introduce a legislation in the Parliament to incentivise scientists with 30 per cent share in royalty or licence fee being generated out of their discoveries in the coming Budget sessions.

Union minister of science and technology and earth sciences Kapil Sibal said on Saturday that his department's endeavour had been to de-bureaucratise the institutions of research in the country by giving more autonomy, freedom and flexibility to scientists in their pursuit of research.

The minister, who laid foundation stones for Clinical Research Facility for Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine and National Bio-safety Level 4 containment facility for human infectious diseases at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology campus, said the government would formulate regulatory mechanisms for stem cell research in the near future.

Stating that India was capable of becoming a global leader in life sciences, he said he expected a Rs 5,000-crore initiative dedicated to public health in collaboration with all stakeholders.