The Prime Minister has constituted the National Knowledge Commission. Shri Sam Pitroda will be Chairperson and Dr P.M. Bhargava will be Vice-Chairperson. The Members of the Commission will be Shri Nandan Nilekani, Dr. Deepak Nayyar, Shri Ashok Ganguly, Dr. Andre Beteille, Dr. Jayati Ghosh and Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta.

The Commission will advise the Prime Minister on matters relating to institutions of knowledge production, knowledge use and knowledge dissemination. The mandate of the Commission is to sharpen India's "knowledge edge".

The Commission will advise the Prime Minister on how India can promote excellence in the education system to meet the knowledge challenges of the 21st Century; promote knowledge creation in S&T laboratories; improve the management of institutions generating Intellectual Property; improve protection of IPRs and promote knowledge applications in agriculture and industry. It will suggest ways in which the Government's knowledge capabilities can be made more effective, making the Government more transparent and accountable as a service provider to the citizen. It will also explore ways in which knowledge can be made more widely accessible in the country for maximum public benefit.

The National Knowledge Commission will be assisted by a Technical Support Group to be staffed by young recruits, hired on contract from premier educational institutions in the country. The Planning Commission will provide logistic support to the National Knowledge Commission. The National Knowledge Commission is expected to interact with different ministries that handle knowledge areas and encourage Ministries to generate their own plans for upgrading institutional capacity.

The Commission will be guided in its work by a National Steering Group chaired by the Prime Minister and including the Ministers of Human Resource Development, Agriculture, Commerce and Industry, Communication and Information Technology, Dy. Chairman, Planning Commission and Minister of State, Science and Technology. The Commission will identify its action programme by 2nd October, 2005 and complete its work by 2nd October, 2008.