Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman formally launched the ‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’ for development of defence related intellectual property rights in the country at an event in national capital New Delhi on Tuesday, setting an ambitious target of filing of 1,000 defence related intellectual property rights applications and to give IPR training to ten thousand officials in public sector.
Intellectual Property Rights have emerged as a key ingredient of an ecosystem which stimulates innovation and ingenuity. Indian government has established an IP Facilitation Cell in April this year which has worked to achieve ambitious targets of training 10,000 personnel of OFB and DPSUs on IPR and to facilitate filing of at least 1,000 new IPR applications.
Addressing the gathering of defence scientists and industry representatives, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that while India has always been a knowledge hub since ancient times.
Nirmala Sitharaman with Defence Production Secretary Ajay Kumar and other officials.
Nirmala Sitharaman said: “Due to lack of awareness on modern legal framework for protection of IP rights, our knowledge and creativity have often not been utilised to its full potential.”
As part of the ongoing initiatives to enhance self-reliance in defence, the Department of Defence Production has instituted a new framework titled ‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’ which aims to provide a boost to the IPR culture in domestic defence industry.
The Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) has been entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating and implementing the programme.
Tuesday’s event brought out that the end objective of ‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’ is to inculcate IP culture in Indian defence manufacturing ecosystem.
The event also showcased various inventions and innovations achieved by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) public sector defence companies and ordnance factories that have resulted in successful filing of intellectual property right applications.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also felicitated some of the scientists, who invented and innovated useful products for the country.
A panel discussion was held with participation of Chairman and Managing Directors of all DPSUs to formulate a strategy for the future.
Nirmala Sitharaman with Defence Production Secretary Ajay Kumar and other officials.
Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary Defence Production highlighted the need to migrate from the culture of seeking Transfer of Technology (ToT) from foreign sources to generating Intellectual Property in India, to achieve the goal of self-reliance in Defence sector.
The event was attended by G Satheesh Reddy, secretary, department of defence R&D and chairman DRDO, senior officers of the three services, chairman of ordnance factories board and managing directors of all the public sector defence companies and other dignitaries.
