India is endowed with a rich legacy of traditional knowledge and practices touching several spheres of life and traversing several S&T domains. Our traditional practices exist in synergy between human needs and nature, often balancing resources and requirements in local context. However, with time, India has been witnessing erosion in people’s faith towards our traditional knowledge. Creating awareness and sharing evidence-based traditional practices/knowledge among the public is of paramount importance to instil a sense of pride and confidence in the knowledge that we have inherited.

Recognising the importance of the subject matter, Hon’ble Prime Minister and President, CSIR Society, Shri Narendra Modi in the CSIR Society meeting on 04 June 2021, exhorted that information related to scientific validation of the traditional knowledge/practices need to be communicated effectively to the public. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was directed to spearhead the efforts to collaborate with the relevant partners from across the country and implement the national initiative on ‘Communicating India’s scientifically validated traditional knowledge’. CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR) was assigned as the nodal organisation to implement this national initiative.

Under the guidance of the Director CSIR-NIScPR and a Steering Committee of eminent experts, a team of scientists from CSIR-NIScPR launched this initiative with the brand name/ tag line “SVASTIK”- Scientifically Validated Societal Traditional Knowledge in August 2021. As a part of this initiative, simplified creative content on Traditional Knowledge is being disseminated through digital platforms in English, Hindi, and different regional languages.

You can reach SVASTIK through @NIScPR_SVASTIK on all popular social media platforms.