Tezpur, April 27: Tezpur University (TU) presented the draught “Assam Gamosa Heritage (Protection) Bill 2023” to Urkhao Gwra Brahma, Minister of Handloom Textiles & Sericulture, Government of Assam, at a meeting in the conference hall of the Ministry at Secretariate Complex, Dispur, in order to protect the economic interests of local weavers in Assam and revive the cultural artifact “Gamosa” through Intellectual Property management.
The draught bill is the result of a project at Tezpur University in Assam funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) called “Reviving cultural artifact Gamosa through Intellectual Property management in Assam and innovative supply Chain” as part of the STRIDE programme for trans-disciplinary research for India’s developing economy.
The purpose of the bill is to pass a transnational Act through Parliament in order to revive the cultural artifact “Gamosa” while protecting the weavers'(xipinie) economic and intellectual property rights and fostering regional innovation on the basis of the already-awarded geographical indication (GI) tag.
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Four intervention areas were provided by project coordinator Dr. Mridul Dutta. These include the documentation of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions of the Gamosa institution, the establishment of standard operating procedures in the Goxain Kapur, Thapona Kapur, Bihuwan, Dora Baran, and Tiyoni communities as listed in the GI Gamosa of Assam, and the implementation of blockchain solutions to ensure client supply chain integrity and prevent design infringement.
With the participation of P K Mahanta, ACS (Director, Department of Handloom & Textiles), Dilip Kumar Borah, IAS (Secretary, Ministry of Handloom Textiles & Sericulture), and Urkhao Gwra Brahma, Minister of Handloom Textiles & Sericulture, a fruitful discussion was held for starting the review of the document, legislative process, and ascent to the
President of India. Brahma praised Tezpur University’s effort and gave the Handloom & Textiles Department instructions to look into the situation more thoroughly.
