Thursday, June 2 2005 21:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In a major step to prepare the country to meet knowledge challenges in the 21st century, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (June 2, 2005) a National Knowledge Commission to be headed by tech czar Sam Pitroda.

The eight-member commission will have P M Bhargava as the vice chairperson. The other members are Nandan Nilekani of Infosys, educationists Deepak Nayyar, Ashok Ganguly, Andre Beteille, Jayanti Ghosh and Pratap Bhanu Mehta, an official release said.

The Commission will advise the Prime Minister on matters relating to institutions of knowledge production, knowledge use and knowledge dissemination, it said adding that the mandate of the Commission was to sharpen India's knowledge edge.

The Commission would identify its action programme by October 2 this year (2005) and complete its work by October 2, 2008, it said.

It would be assisted by a Technical Support Group, while the Planning Commission would provide logistic support.

The Commission is expected to interact with different Ministries that handle knowledge areas and encourage them to generate their own plans for upgrading institutional capacity.

The panel would be guided in its work by a National Steering Group chaired by the Prime Minister and would include Ministries of HRD, Agriculture, Commerce and Industry, Communications and IT, Science and Technology and the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.

The Commission will advise the Prime Minister on how the country could promote knowledge creation in science and technology laboratories, improve the management of institutions generating Intellectual Property, improve protection of IPRs and promote knowledge applications in agriculture and industry.

It would also suggest ways in which the Government's knowledge capabilities could be made more effective, making the Government more transparent and accountable as a service provider to the people.

It would also explore ways in which knowledge could be made more widely accessible in the country for maximum public benefit, the release added.