“The 21st Century needs Traditional
Knowledge Systems”, Dr D P Agrawal
Binsar, Uttarakhand,
April 11, 2013
Kumaon Himalay from Khali Estate Binsar
G S Rautela
Vibha Mishra
O C Handa
Shivanand Kanavi, G S Rautela, D P Agrawal, Shabbir Imani, Shekhar Pathak
D P Agrawal and Shivanand Kanavi
Yours Truly
Shekhar Pathak, Vasudha Pant
At the Conference on Traditional Knowledge Systems held in
Khali Estate, Binsar, Uttarakhand April 8-11, 2013, organized by Lok Vigyan
Kendra, Almora in collaboration with SPARDHA,
over thirty research papers were presented and discussed by scholars from
Uttarakhand and other parts of India.
The topics covered a wide range of subjects about natural
resources, arts and crafts, medicinal plants and therapeutic systems,
metallurgy, agriculture, water management, hydraulics etc etc of various parts
of Himalay as well as other parts of India. Prominent scholars in the field
also deliberated on the future of these Traditional Knowledge Systems; balanced
economic development of Uttarakhand; and employment generation and
entrepreneurship.
Many well-known scholars like Ajay Rawat, G S Rautela, D P
Agrawal, Shekhar Pathak, O C Handa, Vibha Tripathi, Krishna Bisht, Vasudha
Pant, Shahida Ansari, Jivan Kharakwal, Madhu Jain, Shabbir Irmani, Shivanand
Kanavi, Mukti Dutta, Diva Bhatt, C S Chauhan, Lalit Jalal, Kailash Rautela,
Deepchand Bisht deliberated for three days various aspects of Traditional
Knowledge Systems, moreover a large number of students from Kumaon region
actively participated in this important conference.
At the end of the conference the distinguished gathering
discussed at length the vision and direction for future work in this field and
unanimously adopted an important Vision Document: Binsar Declaration 2013.
Binsar Declaration
2013
Uttarakhand region has been an important cradle of Indian
civilization, its philosophy and way of life. It has not only been the source
of the life-giving holy Ganga and Yamuna but also knowledge and wisdom. While our
Shastras have well documented for millennia all these things, what is not very
well known is the richness of Traditional Knowledge Systems of this region that
have been largely in the oral form.
These Traditional Knowledge Systems have great value in
today’s world where the balance in our life is being lost by the relentless
onslaught of consumerist globalization and changes in the Indian and world
economy. However this knowledge which has resided in our people’s arts, crafts,
health care systems, agriculture, metallurgy, forestry, animal husbandry, water
management, architecture, cuisine etc is on the verge of being lost to future
generations due to displacement, migration and onslaught of mindless
urbanization and poor education, which is driving us to unhesitatingly reject
our own heritage and wisdom while accepting everything Western indiscriminately.
1)
For the sake of our present as well as future
generations, it is imperative that we research these knowledge systems which
are mainly in the oral form and document them with modern electronic and
digital technology to preserve and popularize them. It is necessary to
scientifically validate their claims and if possible provide protection to
their Intellectual Property in various forms, which will have economic reasons
as well as gain them greater acceptability and visibility. It may also be
possible to revive some of them under modern conditions for the economic
benefit of its practitioners and the larger benefit of society.
2)
The Binsar Conference 2013 on Traditional
Knowledge Systems appeals to all intelligentsia, artisans, and practitioners of
traditional knowledge; academics in universities colleges and research
institutions; the youth and our elders; to participate in this endeavor and
verily develop this into a living mass movement. It appeals to all our elected
representatives and the government to support this endeavor with all their
resources and administrative capabilities.
3)
While our hills and our Rishi-Munis and Gurus
have brought wisdom and peace to the world and all visitors to the region, the
economic changes brought about by British colonialism and now globalization
have gravely affected our life and has led to large scale migration. While the
diaspora of Uttarakhand are contributing productively to the Indian economy and
global economy and have brought fame to our region, it is also a fact that many
of the youth do not have required skills, expertise or entrepreneurship to
dramatically improve the quality of their life in this highly competitive
world.
4)
This Binsar Conference 2013 on Traditional
Knowledge Systems also urges the government and all our elected representatives
to urgently take steps towards skill development and creating an ecosystem
required for developing and entrepreneurial culture among the youth of
Uttarakhand for a balanced and all round growth of this region and its people.
Setting up an Uttarakhand Centre for Entrepreneurship would be a first step in
this direction.
The participants of Binsar Conference 2013 will take
concrete steps to take these decisions forward and will work with all
individuals and organisations that have similar aim in mind. They once again
call upon the researchers, practitioners, academics, youth and students to make
this a mass movement and call upon our elected representatives and the
government to wholeheartedly support these initiatives.
End