NEW DELHI: National Knowledge Commission has recommended enactment of a legislation that would give universities and research institutions ownership and patent rights over inventions from government-funded research.

This would create an enabling environment for commercialization of such inventions through licensing arrangements where inventors would also be allowed to receive a share of the royalty, Commission's Chairman Sam Pitroda said. Addressing a meeting of MPs, he said the proposed enactment should incorporate important safeguards for exceptional circumstances where the government could be given

"March-in rights" to protect public good. Elaborating on other activities, he said the Commission proposed a major thrust in translation across all Indian languages to further knowledge creation and information dissemination.

"A national drive to ensure access to knowledge and learning can transform India's potential for development, lift young Indians to new levels of understanding and competencies, and make India one of the leading knowledge societies of the world," he said.

The Report to the Nation, presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in January this year, sets out the Commission's ideas, recommendations and practical action proposals on the right to education at all levels, vocational training, libraries, language and translation, knowledge networking, and e-governance, he said.

A core component of the Commission's assignment was to generate practical proposals for comprehensive improvement of education standards and opportunities at all levels, and notably the uplift of vocational knowledge and skills, he said.