Centre to introduce Bill for biotech centre in Faridabad
Girja Shankar Kaura
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 2
The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for introducing a Bill for the setting up a Regional Centre for Biotechnology in Faridabad.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here today.
According to an official statement, the objective of the Bill is to provide a legal status to the centre so as to function independently as an autonomous body and also an institution of national importance for education, training and research in biotechnology.
The centre has already been established by an executive order of the Government of India in November 2008 after the approval by the Union Cabinet.
It is operational at the NCR Biotech Science Clustre, Faridabad, and the enactment does not involve any financial implications at this stage.
The centre is a regional hub for inter-disciplinary education, training and research in biotechnology with emphasis on novel education programmes relevant to industry, including bio-drug discovery science, nano-science and medicine, imaging techniques, designer crops, bioengineering and biomaterials, intellectual property, technology transfer and regulation to fulfil and overcome the shortage of skilled human resources in India.
It would be a hub of biotechnology expertise in the countries in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region and, more generally, in Asia, and to address human resources needs in the region.
It would address designing of new and novel programmes for education and training which could then be assimilated by the existing universities in India and the Region.
