The Hindu : Front Page : Delay in signing MoU may affect RGCB's prospects

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006

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Delay in signing MoU may affect RGCB's prospects

T. Nandakumar

State recalls file relating to Centre's offer to take over institute

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The delay in securing clearance from the State Government threatens to scupper the Centre's move to convert the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) here into a national autonomous institute under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The file relating to the Centre's offer to take over the institute was signed by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on June 17 and released to the press for publication. But two days later, the Government recalled it without specifying any reason. Since then, the Ministry has had no official communication on the clearance required from the State Government.

The proposal to accord RGCB the status of an autonomous institution under the Centre was announced in the 2006 Union Budget. Subsequently, the Centre had written to the State, seeking consent to register RGCB as an autonomous body under the Societies Act and to transfer its fixed assets to the new society under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India.

The State Government is also required to sanction the signing of a MoU between the Ministry and the State Council of Science, Technology and Environment. Besides, the Ministry has sought an additional three acres of land adjacent to the present RGCB campus.

Sources in the Ministry said it was up to the State Government to act on the proposal. "We are waiting for a response. The Government is aware that the consent papers should be submitted in time for the eleventh five-year Plan allocation. After all, the State had been raising this demand for years, both inside Parliament and outside," a highly placed official pointed out when contacted on the phone at his Delhi office.

Premier institution

He said the RGCB had the potential to be developed as the premier medical biotechnology research centre in India. It has done a pioneering work in medical and plant biotechnology, but is handicapped by the lack of adequate funds. The State Budget allocation for the RGCB is to the tune of Rs.8 crore to Rs.9 crore, against an annual requirement of Rs.29 crore to Rs.30 crore.

Pannian Ravindran, MP, said he would take up the issue with the Chief Minister and request him to expedite efforts to transfer the institute to the Central Government. "The elevation of RGCB to the status of a national institute will only benefit Kerala. Apart from the huge increase in budgetary support, it will attract BT-based industries to the State," he said.

The Chief Minister's office said the file was being processed. "The Union Ministry has not specified a cut-off date for submitting the clearance," an official said. "We decided to submit the proposed MoU to a detailed discussion because there were reservations over the issue of administrative control. The Government is in favour of a joint control system, with the Centre and the State having a say in the affairs of the institution," he added.

The RGCB will be the seventh national biotechnology research institute under DBT. The six other centres are the National Institute of Immunology, Delhi, National Brain Research Centre, Manesar, Haryana, Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune and the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting, Hyderabad. All these centres get annual allocation between Rs.25 crore and Rs.30 crore.

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