CPI(M) Election Manifesto is Open-source friendly, Wants to revamp Patent Office

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Here is what CPM’s 2009 election manifesto reads as:

• Enhancing public funding of indigenous research in science and technology to promote self-reliance; Decentralization in funding for R&D; Fundamental research in the sciences to be accorded priority
• Promoting free software and other such new technologies, which are free from monopoly ownership  through copyrights or patents; “knowledge commons” should be promoted across disciplines, like biotechnology and drug discovery
• Scrapping the Public Funded R&D Bill, that seeks to allow patenting of products that are developed through public funded laboratories.
• Revamping the functioning of the Patent offices to ensure strict adherence to the Indian Patent Act; Stop training and orientation of Indian Patent office personnel by the US and European Patent offices [download the manifesto (pdf)]

Traditionally, CPI(M) has been a promoter of open-source, but I am not sure what do they mean by the ‘stop training and orientation of Indian Patent office personnel by the US and European Patent offices’ [somebody please throw some light here – especially on how disorienting Indian Patent office from US/European Patent office will help.]

Now that BJP [read BJP’s Election Manifesto] and CPI(M) have launched their manifesto (both support open source), let’s wait for congress to come up with it’s manifesto (do remember that Microsoft’s OOXML was passed under Congress tenure).

Forget about what political parties have to say, what would be your top agenda for building tech manifesto for India? Shouldn’t it go beyound open-source vs. Microsoft debate?

I have started a thread in the forum to discuss this (no need to register, though registering adds to one’s credibility and also keeps spammers away) :  India Election 2009 – Your Technology Manifesto? Do share your opinion/thoughts.