As Director of India'sNational Chemical Laboratory (NCL) during 1989–1995,[6] Mashelkar gave a new orientation to NCL's research programmes with strong emphasis on globally competitive technologies and international patenting. NCL, which was involved only in import substitution research till then, began licensing its patents to multinational companies.[7][8]
As Director General of CSIR, Mashelkar led the process of transformation of CSIR. The book 'World Class in India', has ranked CSIR among the top twelve organizations, who have managed the radical change the best in post-liberalised India.[9]
The process of CSIR transformation has been heralded as one of the ten most significant achievements of Indian Science and Technology in the twentieth century, by eminent astrophysicist Prof.Jayant Narlikar, in his book,The Scientific Edge.
Mashelkar campaigned strongly with Indian academics, researchers and corporates for strengthening the IPR ecosystem. Under his leadership, CSIR occupied the first position inWIPO's top fiftyPCT filler among all the developing nations in 2002. CSIR progressed in US patent filing to an extent that they reached 40% share of the US patents granted to India in 2002.[10]
Led by Mashelkar, CSIR successfully fought the battle of revocation of the US patent on wound healing properties ofturmeric (USP 5,401,5041) claiming that this was India's traditional knowledge and therefore not novel.[11][12] Mashelkar also chaired the Technical Committee, which successfully challenged[13] the US patents on Basmati Rice (USP 5,663,484) by RiceTec Company, Texas, (2001). This opened up new paradigms in the protection of traditional knowledge with WIPO bringing in a new internal patent classification system, where sub-groups on traditional knowledge were created for the first time. This led to the creation of India'sTraditional Knowledge Digital Library,[14][13] which helped in prevention of the grant of wrong patents on traditional knowledge.
He pioneered the concept of"Gandhian Engineering"[15] in 2008 (Getting More from Less for More People). His paper with lateC.K. Prahalad titled `Innovation’s Holy Grail’ has been considered as a significant contribution to inclusive innovation. His other contributions amplify the concept of More from Less for More.[16][17]
He was on the Engineering and Computer Science jury for theInfosys Prize from 2009 to 2015.[18]
Mashelkar was a member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and also of theScientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet set up by successive governments. He has chaired sixteen high powered committees set up to look into diverse issues ranging from national auto fuel policy[20] to overhauling the Indian drug regulatory system & dealing with the menace of spurious drugs.[21] He was appointed by the Government as Assessor for the One-man Inquiry Commission investigating into the Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1985–86), and as Chairman of the committee for investigating the Maharashtra Gas Cracker Complex accident (1990–91).[22]
Deeply connected with the innovation movement in India, Mashelkar served as the Chairman of India's National Innovation Foundation (2000–2018). He chaired Reliance Innovation Council,[23] KPIT Technologies Innovation Council, Persistent Systems Innovation Council andMarico Foundation's Governing Council.[24] He co-chairs theMaharashtra State Innovation Society.[25]
In 2005, the Indian government established a technical expert group on patent laws under the chairmanship of Mashelkar. Its purpose was to determine whether amendments made in Indian patent law wereTRIPS compliant. The committee unanimously concluded that the amendments were notTRIPS compliant.
The report generated controversy when editorials published simultaneously in theTimes of India[27] andThe Hindu[28] alleged parts of the report had been plagiarised. Mashelkar subsequently withdrew the report due to the alleged plagiarism,[29] admitting to flaws in the report[27][30] whilst stating, "This is the first time such a thing has happened."[29] He later also explained that the technical flaw was not the alleged lack of attribution but it was citing the attribution at the end of the report than in the body of the report due to the style adopted for the report.[31]
The controversy was raised in theIndian Parliament, with demands that the report be "trashed" and the issues be referred to a joint standing committee.[32][33] However, the government instead referred the report back to the technical expert group to reexamine and correct the inaccuracies. The report was resubmitted after corrections in March 2009 and was accepted by the Government as such.[34][35]
The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Padma Vibhushan Award to Dr. Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, at a Civil Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on March 31, 2014
.
Mashelkar has received several awards and is a member of numerous scientific bodies and committees.[36] So far,53 universities from around the world have honored him with honorary doctorates, which include Universities of London, Salford, Pretoria, Wisconsin, Swinburne, Monash, Deakin and Delhi.[37]Academy of Grassroots Studies and Research of India (AGRASRI), Tirupati, awarded him the Rajiv Gandhi Outstanding Leadership National Award for the year 2007 on 20 August, 2007 at Tirupati, by Shri R.L.Bhatia, the then Governor of Kerala. Dr. Mashelkar delivered the 6th Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture on 20 August, 2007 at Tirupati.He surpasses the record for the highest number of honorary doctorates awarded to any Indian engineer, which was previously held by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with 48 honorary doctorates.[38]
Honours by President of India: (highest Indian civilian awards)
Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award (1991)
Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award (2000)
Mashelkar established theAnjani Mashelkar Foundation in 2011 to encourage inclusive innovation which includes the excluded by deploying disruptive high technology, scalable products and services often through breakthrough business models.
The foundation has awarded the Anjani Mashelkar Prize to the best innovators of the country with a motive to recognise and reward such innovators who develop high technology solutions for the excluded members of society. As on 2024, the annual Anjani Mashelkar Prize has been awarded 14 times.
^"Padma Awards Announced". Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs. 25 January 2014.Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved26 January 2014.
