Dr Harsh Vardhan addresses webinar on the theme
of AtmaNirbhar Bharat- Swatantra Bharat; highlights remarkable
indigenous technologies developed during the Covid pandemic
“AtmaNirbhar Bharat
has become one of the focal areas of our government, around which all
economic policies are being drawn up”: Dr Harsh Vardhan
“World
has applauded India for the manner in which we held fort and kept Covid
related mortality rate at the lowest… even today we are at a mortality
rate of 1.44 per cent”: Dr Harsh Vardhan
Posted On:
14 JAN 2021 7:15PM by PIB Delhi
The
Union Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health
& family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan addressed a webinar on the theme
of AtmaNirbhar Bharat organized by a media organization Swarajya in
collaboration with Vedanta. Addressing the webinar, Dr Harsh
Vardhansaid, “AtmaNirbhar Bharat has become one of the focal areas of
our government, around which all economic policies are being drawn up.
Our government is focused on bridging the gap between the rich and the
poor, the haves and the have-nots and on providing equal opportunity to
all Bhartiya citizens which is the real meaning of Antyodaya”.
The
Minister further elaborated, “AtmaNirbhar Bharat is a plan to free
India from the clutches of poverty, to ensure that all Indians have
equal access to not just kapda, roti aurmakaan .. but to make a
qualitative change in their living by giving them access to bank
accounts, 24 by 7 power, potable drinking water, housing, social
security and most of all ..employment and good food leading to good and
healthy living”.
The
Minister outlined, “As a step in the direction of AtmaNirbhar Bharat,
we launched the Make in India initiative to drive India as a hub for
manufacturing, cutting edge research and innovation. We fully understand
that with industry will come greater employment for our youth, which
will ignite prosperity in their lives”.
Dr.
Harsh Vardhan Pointed out, “We have eased norms for doing business; we
are working to make our tax structures competitive, simplifying
procedures and removing unnecessary regulations and placing enormous
focus on technology as well”. He expressed his confidence, “ these
efforts will directly benefit the poor of India and provide them the
windows of opportunity they deserve”.
Recounting
the challenging circumstances of Covid pandemic, the Minister said “The
Department of Biotechnology did extraordinary work in supporting the
advancement of vaccine candidates and related technologies. Under
“Mission COVID Suraksha - The Indian COVID-19 Vaccine Development
Mission'', we focused on accelerated vaccine development through
end-to-end solutions from pre-clinical development, clinical trials,
manufacturing and regulatory facilitation for deployment”.
“A
National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID19, NEGVAC was
constituted under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister to monitor and
decide on prioritization of population groups for vaccination, the
delivery mechanism of the vaccine including tracking of the vaccination
process and selection of delivery platforms. An indigenously developed
Co-WIN: Digital Platform for COVID 19 vaccination delivery has also been
developed”, he added.
The
Minister highlighted, “COVID-19 vaccination drive is also driven by
‘Make in India’ and both the vaccines that have received emergency
authorization in India have been manufactured indigenously. We have also
carried out Cold Chain Storage Assessment across the country and Cold
Chain Equipment is being supplied continuously to augment the capacity
at the last mile cold chain points”.
Dr.
Harsh Vardhan said, “I am sure that our efforts aimed at mitigation of
the pandemic have parallelly strengthened our health systems upto the
last mile and the same will act as a foundation for further
strengthening the same to provide affordable, equitable and quality
healthcare to all”.
Stating
that the COVID Pandemic has been an unfortunate event that has affected
our lives and economies in an unprecedented manner, Dr Harsh Vardhan
said, “However, we have utilized this adversity as an opportunity to
strengthen our health care delivery system across the country”.
“The
COVID-19 pandemic also provided a compelling opportunity for R&D
institutions, academia and industry to work in unison for sharing of
purpose, synergy, collaboration and cooperation”, he said.
The
Department of Science & Technology and its various Autonomous
Institutions made significant efforts to address R&D and innovation
related challenges arising out of the pandemic. “Among other measures
has been the formation of a National Task Force with over 20 leading
scientists for formulating a National Super Model for predicting the
spread of any pandemic in the future”, Dr. Harsh Vardhan emphasized.
Giving
further details , he said “DBT and BIRAC have been working relentlessly
over the past ten months to develop effective interventions for
combating the pandemic by supporting nearly 120 projects in the thematic
areas of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics”.
“More
than 200 Indian Manufacturers have registered under National Biomedical
Resource Indigenization Consortium, N-BRIC, a Make in India initiative,
for facilitating indigenous manufacturing of 15 major molecular biology
components and reagents”, the Minister disclosed.
“Also,
DBT is supporting development of nearly 15 vaccine candidates. Of these
3 vaccine candidates are in clinical trial stage and about 2 candidates
are in advanced pre-clinical developmental stage”, he explained.
Outlining
all above efforts, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “Amongst many other
achievements, the immunoassay laboratory of Translational Health Science
and Technology Institute,THSTI has been recognized by the Coalition for
Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, CEPI as one of the seven
laboratories globally, for centralized assessment of COVID- 19
Vaccines”.
“Five
COVID-19 Biorepositories have been set up and have archived more than
40,000 samples, which are available for biomedical researchers”, he
said.
“On
the Genomics and Therapeutics front …..PAN-India, 1000 SARS-CoV-2
genome sequencing was successfully completed and data is being analyzed
to understand the virus”, the Minister said that the Indian SARS-CoV-2
Genomic Consortium INSACOG has been launched, to ascertain the status of
new variants of SARS-CoV-2 in the country.
He
pointed out, “CSIR has galvanized its considerable strength and
expertise and has been contributing to the fight against COVID-19 by
developing new and improved diagnostics, drugs & vaccines and
devices including ventilators”, the Minister said, “CSIR has also made
strides in understanding the molecular epidemiology and tracing of the
viral strains in the country. It recognized early on the challenges of
the disruption in the supply chain and has taken steps to circumvent the
hurdles”.
“We
have developed FELUDA, the novel paper-based diagnostic kit for
COVID-19 detection. Tata Sons, who took transfer of this unique
technology, may soon start exporting these” he highlighted.”The quick
and easy to use RT-LAMP diagnostic kit developed in partnership with
Reliance Industries, is being reviewed by ICMR”. “CSIR labs have
contributed significantly in understanding the prevalent viral strains,
their mutational spectrum, spread and distribution across India by
sequencing and analyzing about 2000 SARS-CoV-2 viral genomes”.
He
praised, “CSIR has also prioritized development of repurposed drugs for
treatment of COVID-19 given the lack of specific drugs. CSIR developed
the process technology for repurposed drugs such as Remdesivir and
Favipiravir and transferred the technology to industries. Based on the
licensed technology of CSIR, Cipla launched the affordable Favipiravir,
which…. all of you will recollect … drove market competition leading to
affordable pricing”. “There is no end to what all has been done in just
the last ten months’, the Minister said. He recounted many other
achievement by CSIR and other S & T labs in fighting COVID.
The
Union Minister placed it before all audience “During the pandemic,
with modesty, I can claim that the world has applauded India for the
manner in which we held fort and kept mortality rates at the lowest…
even today we are at a mortality rate of 1.44 per cent”.
He
concluded by saying, “There is an immense need to further educate the
public to become self-reliant. Once they know that they have got to
stand on their own legs, it will electrify the atmosphere. This webinar
series is a step in the right direction”.
*****
SOURCE PIB NEWS
{ With input from news agency language)
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