Nirmala Sitaraman.

Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti

As part of their initiatives to enhance self-reliance in Defence, Ministry of Defence (MoD) launched 'Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti'. This event showcased salient innovations created by DRDO, Defence Public Sector Undertakings and Ordnance Factories that resulted in successful IPR applications being filed.

The Directorate General for Quality Assurance has been charged with overseeing and implementing this programme.

 

1. Inculcating IPR Culture

 

As part of her efforts to increase self-reliance in defence, Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman initiated Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti to foster IPR culture within indigenous defence industry. The programme was spearheaded by Department of Defence Production with Directorate General Quality Assurance as the lead for coordination and implementation. During the event, salient inventions and innovations achieved by DRDO, Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factories that resulted in successful filing of IPR applications were presented and displayed for display.

An IPR awareness drive was highlighted as essential for driving innovation and creating a sustainable defence manufacturing ecosystem, and to shift away from seeking ToT from foreign nations towards creating intellectual property locally. To facilitate this transition, the Ministry of Defence set up an IPR Facilitation Cell in April 2018 in order to train DPSUs and OFB Officials about IPR as well as facilitate filing new IPR applications.

 

2. Boosting IPR Awareness

 

Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Defence Minister, launched Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti in New Delhi to foster intellectual property culture within indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem. At this event, she stressed on the need to move away from an approach of seeking Transfer of Technology (ToT) from foreign sources towards developing intellectual property within India in order to meet goals of self-reliance in defense industry.

An increased awareness of IPR will motivate defence sector personnel to invent and protect their innovations, taking advantage of modern legal frameworks to secure their IP rights.

This mission aims to train 10,000 defence PSU and Ordnance Factory officials on intellectual property rights (IPR), and facilitate filing 1,000 new IPR applications. This initiative will increase innovation within India's defence industry while making its operations more cost-efficient; additionally, this reduction in imports of defence technologies will save money and make India less dependent.

 

3. Strengthening IPR Protection

 

While the government aims to strengthen the defence sector, they also endeavor to bolster intellectual property rights of their nation. One way they do this is by creating a panel which oversees patent filing applications from public sector undertakings and ordnance factories operating within defense public sector undertakings or factories.

This initiative by the Ministry of Defence was an important one. Launched by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in 2018, this mission aimed to promote intellectual property rights (IPRs) among indigenous defence industry players. At an event hosted by DRDO, DPSUs, and Ordnance Factories who successfully filed IPR applications, salient inventions were displayed for consideration at an IPR festival organised by Directorate General Quality Assurance to coordinate and implement this programme.

Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti's goal is to shift away from an reliance on foreign technology towards indigenous innovation and achieve self-reliance in defence production. To meet this objective, training personnel of OFB and DPSUs on Intellectual Property Rights filing procedures.

 

4. Strengthening IPR Management

 

The Department of Defence Production has initiated the Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti program to strengthen IPR culture within indigenous defence industry. The Directorate General of Quality Assurance is charged with overseeing this initiative and will serve as its coordinator and facilitator.

Mission IPR-India seeks to inculcate an IPR culture within India's defence manufacturing ecosystem and reduce dependency on foreign technology transfers. Additionally, the mission entails creating an infrastructure to encourage IPR creation and ensure its protection; an IPR Facilitation Cell was set up under DGQA's auspices in April 2018, working tirelessly towards their ambitious target of training 10,000 personnel from DPSUs and OFB on IPR and filing of 1,000 IPR applications by July 2019.

Applaudable are the efforts of DRDO and DGQA in spreading awareness about IPR, leading to additional development of different manifestations, innovations and inventions in our nation.