India ranks 60th in a list of 127 countries on the Global Innovation Index (GII) of 2017.
It ranks 43rd among 45 countries in the recently-released International Intellectual Property (IP) Index, 2017.
The poor record on IP protection calls for appropriate governmental intervention.
What are the initiatives in this regard?
The National Innovation Council (NIC) in 2010 aimed at promoting innovations and making India a hub of innovations.
The key mandate of NIC was to formulate a roadmap for innovations for 2010 to 2020.
It submitted three annual reports to the government; the last one in 2013.
Sectoral innovation councils were set up in 25 major departments of Union government, including the ministry of agriculture.
State Innovation Councils were also set up at the state level, as a measure of decentralisation.
The present government has increasingly been stressing on its goal of promoting innovations.
The Atal Innovation Mission is a notable initiative in this regard.
How has the progress been?
Despite the efforts, the progress of the initiatives and the overall climate of innovations in India is still not considerably optimistic.
Despite efforts to decentralise innovation and making it part of overall governance structure, innovative ideas that could be scaled up nationally have hardly emerged.
Clearly, government organisations are not suited to bring about any game-changing innovations as they are caught up in routine work.
The work of NIC proved that innovations work best in a supporting environment, irrespective of the size or nature of an organisation.
However, the prime challenge is the government supporting and protecting innovations in the first place.
What is the recent impact of this shortfall?
One obvious impact created by the lack of support system for innovations is the rising incidence of illegal sales of Herbicide-Tolerant BT Cotton seeds.
One of the biggest innovations in Indian agriculture in the last 15 years is the introduction of Bt cotton in 2002.
Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (MMB), which released the Bt cotton, also intended to release HT Bt cotton (an innovation in Bt cotton).
MMB thus applied for approval to the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC).
But before MMB could be granted permission, HT cotton was illegally pirated, probably from countries like the US, Australia, etc that had already released it officially.
These pirated HT cotton seeds were bred in India and several companies sold them in large scale.
MMB had written to GEAC and to the concerned ministries and state governments of this illegality way back in 2008.
The inaction from the government side led to MMB withdrawing its application, recently.
And now, the large scale of this illegal HT cotton seeds trade has become a major challenge for the government.
What should be done?
The rising scale of exploiting the illegal avenues for commercialising innovations undermines the regulatory systems.
Government should thus create an enabling environment to safeguard intellectual property of individuals.
Private and public companies that develop new products and ideas through their own investment must be encouraged.
Regulatory bodies need to clear the applications for innovative products (like GM mustard or Bt brinjal) with utmost priority.
Delaying this process would only give scope for their introduction by pirates.
Firm IP protection laws and stern action against illegal activities are essential to boost innovations as also to ensure credibility in regulatory institutions.
Quick Facts
Global Innovation Index
GII is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for and success in innovation.
It is prepared by Cornell University, INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
It is based on data derived from several sources, including the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.
HT Bt Cotton
Herbicide Tolerant Bt cotton in an innovation in the Bt cotton.
It offers the twin advantage of bollworm resistance and herbicide tolerance.
In comparison, the approved Bt variety (Bollgard I and Bollgard II) is only bollworm-resistant.
It takes care of the weeds problem at a much lower cost than the labour farmers have to engage for weeding.
GEAC
The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) functions in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
It operates as per the Rules, 1989, under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
It is responsible for appraisal of proposals relating to release of genetically engineered (GE) organisms and products into the environment including experimental field trials.
It applies to large scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental angle.
