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Lack of well trained manpower and well equipped lab for biotechnology
By Gaurav, Section News
India's biotechnology sector grew 36.5 per cent in 2005- 06 but there are certain concerns, such as the lack of well-trained manpower, that need to be addressed.
At Delhi University's Department of Botany, a bunch of doctoral students stared at this correspondent with blank faces, when they were asked about their reasons for taking up Biotechnology-related research. Not that the question was posed in Greek or Latin. It is Molecular Biology-related research that they have taken up, their teacher pitched in to explain. This is not going to be the case with junior students for the simple reason that the department has started a Biotechnology paper in the M.Sc. programme this year, and added it as a separate topic in a course in the B.Sc. (Hons.) syllabus. Incidentally, most American universities do not teach the subject as Biotechnology it is imparted under the area of cell or molecular Biology. Click on "Full Story" for more...
Call it by whatever name you will, Biotechnology is the new sun rising on India's horizon. According to government figures, the country's Biotech sector counted revenues worth US$ 1.07 billion in 2005-06 and boasts a 36.55 per cent growth. The government's budget has increased from Rs. 389 crores in 2005-06 to Rs. 521 crores in 2006-07. Says Dr. Rajiv Soni, President, and COO, PREMAS Biotech, "This field will hold promise for the next 25 years at least." However, the segment is experiencing difficulties as far as com petent trained professionals go.
For the uninitiated, Biotechnology is a set of techniques applied to living systems. The subject spans transgenic animals, such as sheep producing more wool and plants that are more nutritious and insect or pest resistant. The government intends to create 10 million jobs by 2010. The Union Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has set aside Rs. 28 crores for human resource development in 2006-07. But there is no definitive data on the trained manpower available and what its requirement in the industry is. That is why the DBT will soon commission a survey to assess the demand and supply of trained biotechnolo gists in different areas of Biotechnology "over a 10-year timeframe." All that is known is that 63 universities run the DBT-funded PG and M.Sc. in Biotechnology programmes which have an annual intake of 935 students. A hundred junior research fellows are taken in through an entrance test. And this year, 85 post-doctoral fellows were selected for DBT-financed programmes. What is unknown is the output from the rest, particularly private players, and "even what is being taught," admits a DBT official. Source- HT's Horizons, October-18,2006
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