June 22, 2012 (India)
Ms. Ishita Roy, a 1991 Kerala Cadre I.A.S. Officer, currently serving as the Member Secretary, Central Silk Board has been elected as the Secretary General of International Sericultural Commission (ISC) in a special Conference of ISC held at Cluj Napoca, Romania on 14th June 2012. With this, the Secretariat of ISC hitherto located at Lyon France since inception (1960) would also move to India and housed in the campus of Central Silk Board at Bangalore. This historical change would mark the beginning of a new era in the development of global sericulture silk industry. This would also help Indian Silk Industry to take advantages of global silk platform.
ISC – Background:
The ISC is an inter-governmental organization of silk producing countries, stationed at Lyon, France. The genesis of ISC dates back to June 1948, when the VII International Sericulture Congress was organized in Alès, whose aim was to re-launch sericulture world-wide, after the Second World War. The permanent commission of ISC was instituted through a convention held at France during 1960. India is one amongst the founding members of ISC.. At present, 13 countries are the members of ISC viz., Brazil, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Lebanon, Madagascar, Romania, Thailand and Tunisia. The primary aim and objective of the ISC is to encourage and promote the development and promotion of sericulture, globally.
ISC has been supporting the development of silk industry in India in the areas of strengthening the R&D activities and acting as a facilitator for sourcing funds from international funding agencies for taking up developmental projects by the Central Silk Board and State sericulture departments.
The prestigious Louis Pasteur Award, being awarded to persons who have done outstanding contribution to global sericulture industry, has been instituted and given away by the ISC. Louis Pasteur Award is considered as the “Nobel Prize” of silk industry and is given once in three years. India has been one of the major recipients of this coveted award and till now, 11 Scientists from India have been conferred with this award for their contribution to the silk industry.
ISC Office would be shifted to Bangalore, India
Ms. Ishita Roy would be assuming the charge of Secretary General for a three year term from January 2013. During this intervening period, the Head Quarters of this prestigious and the sole international organization for silk industry would be shifted from Lyon - the Fashion Capital of Europe, to Bangalore - the Silk Capital of India. The Office would be housed in the Campus of Central Silk Board, at Bangalore.
The global aspirations
- This new opportunity can well be utilized to harness better understanding of technological innovations amongst the member countries to begin with.
- ISC can play more active role in bringing its members, producing, converting and consuming countries much closer on an international forum for bilateral and multi-lateral business beneficial to each other.
- It can ensure better collection, documentation and dissemination of information on global and national sericulture industry for the benefit of the stake holders across the globe.
- It can also play a pivotal role in re-defining need-based research, technology, HRD and marketing linkages of silk and silk based products at international level for the benefit of its member countries
- How does ISC benefits India?
- India can play a major role in framing policy actions on sericulture development globally which can help in bringing stability and sustainability in her domestic sericulture industry.
- Through collaborative R&D activities by the member countries, potential genetical traits presently scattered in different geographical regions could be aggregated for enhancing global silk production and productivity.
- ISC can be effectively utilized as a forum for promoting silk as a natural, eco-friendly and fibre and strive to promote increased use of silk and silk based products across the globe. Incidentally, it can also help in promoting the brand ‘Indian Silk’, through the Silk Mark, among the global consumers.
- India would have greater role in channelizing funds from international funding agencies to its member countries and also to many sericulturally developing countries in South America, Africa and Asia.
- Under the banner of ISC activities, some of the R&D Institutes in India could be elevated to international standards by forging fruitful collaboration with other reputed R&D institutes of the world.
- India, being among the leading producers of silk from among the member countries of ISC can offer its large pool of expert service and training facilities to other silk producing countries. It can act as the centre for any major initiatives globally.
- ISC would provide a larger platform for sharing expertise among the silk producing countries.
- India would also strive to enhance the membership base of the countries at an international level.
- ISC would be used as a platform for the congregation of silk producing and processing countries for better value realization
- India being a main silk producing country to avail the advantages of technological innovations in silk reeling, processing and finishing technologies developed in other countries.
- India would be able to import improved machineries on reeling, processing and finishing from other countries to enhance of quality of Indian Silk products for domestic and export markets
The appointment of Member Secretary as Secretary General of International Sericultural Commission and shifting the head quarter of this prestigious international intergovernmental organization to India is considered as a land mark event and is seen as a much-sought-after opportunity for India to be a global leader for sericulture development.
International Sericultural Commission (ISC)
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