Knowledge Commission fears suggestions may suffer if government changes.
The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) is planning to fast-track implementation of its recommendations for higher education before the onset of general elections. The commission fears its recommendations might be put on the backburner if a new government is elected.
AS Kolaskar, advisor, NKC, says: “The NKC is a high-level advisory body to the prime minister. Formed in 2005, it is headed by Sam Pitroda and was granted a six-month extension recently. Its term was to end this October. “Those recommendations which don’t require immediate passing of legislation, a nod from Parliament or creation of a special purpose vehicle by the government, are being pursued rigorously by the NKC for implementation as we have elections scheduled in the coming months.”
Recommendations, which are being fast-tracked, include the creation of a National Knowledge Network; formation of National Science and Social Science Foundation (NS3F) and passing a legislation to help universities and research institutions file patents in their own name and forge commercialisation processes with the industry.
The National Knowledge Network is a high-bandwidth network connecting all universities, libraries and laboratories, hospitals and agricultural institutions — enabling them to share data and resources across the country.
The proposed broadband network is likely to have a 100 Mbps or higher access bandwidth and therefore almost all the user institutions — around 1,000 in the first phase — will have to upgrade their networks to be able to cater to these speeds. The knowledge network will involve a recurring cost of Rs 20-40 lakh per institution connected, amounting to Rs 200-400 crore annually for 1,000 institutions in the first phase.
The NS3F would work towards producing at least 3 Indian scientists or social scientists worthy of a Nobel Prize in 6 years. The budget for NS3F is recommended to be Rs 1,250 crore a year, which will allow it to fund between 200 and 400 outstanding, long-term (5-10 years), selected projects with potential to make India a leader.
The proposed legislation for intellectual property rights will help universities and research institutions earn income of any royalties or income earned after payment of expenses, to be ploughed back into institutes for scientific research and education.
According to the proposal, the government could have 'march-in rights’ to protect certain public good(s) or matters pertaining to national security. The government could also be given the right to own an invention where the party decides not to retain title or fails to file the requisite patent application.
