HYDERABAD: The need for renewed focus on the apprentice system to encourage innovation in industry was stressed on Tuesday by Member of Parliament K. Vishweshwar Reddy.
The Chevella MP from TRS, addressing a seminar on ‘Innovation and Intellectual Property’ organised by industry body FICCI here, said this while pointing out how innovation happened more in the private sector, especially in the small scale manufacturing sector.
Towards reviving the strong apprenticeship system that once existed in the country, the Centre had moved the subject from the administrative control of the Labour Ministry to the HRD Ministry. Subsequently, for enhanced focus it created a separate Ministry of Skills and Entrepreneurship, he added.
Underscoring the significance of such a system from a perspective of training youth as well as encouraging them to evolve new products and solutions, Mr. Reddy said Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi dominated the list of States filing patents while most others lagged behind.
Innovation for industry, he said, is not just about the tax break that came along but something that could make or break enterprises, he added.
Speakers in a panel discussion that followed, including founder partner of K&S Partners Jyoti Sagar and CA Technologies vice president Subramanian Venkataraman, spoke on the legal aspects and industry academia partnership for innovation.
Patent Counsel of Intel India K.S. Murthy said that academic institutions ought to be realistic while seeking revenue share from the IPs resulting from the joint projects.
