By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : Kerala is working on an intellectual property rights (IPR) policy aimed at safeguarding the state’s rich base of ayurveda and herbal medicine and treatment.
“The Indian Patents Act and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, clearly state that every state should form a biodiversity board, but nothing has happened so far. We have already floated the draft policy and a supervisory committee has been formed with the chief minister as the chairman. The committee will include several experts and officials,” Kerala Law Minister M. Vijayakumar told reporters Sunday.
This policy is crucial for Kerala because of the state’s rich traditional knowledge and practice of ayurveda, the Indian system of medicine.
“Ayurveda is a livelihood for many but there is no legal backing and it has already been an area of large-scale misappropriation. Hence we have to have our own policy in this respect.
“The draft has already been circulated for discussions and the response to it has been tremendous. It will soon come up for discussion in the assembly,” said the minister.
The proposed policy also gives amble powers for the proposed State Biodiversity Board and henceforth any research activities on the traditional knowledge base of Kerala would need a clearance from it.
“The board will also help and provide assistance to researchers seeking patents and, more importantly, it would see that the interests of the traditional users are not harmed,” added Vijayakumar.