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The packed
mini auditorium at National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD),
Rajendranagar, witnessed the audience listening intently to
the touching tales of young to-be engineers, watched over by
their proud mentors.
The audience eagerly lapped up the information the
youngsters were sharing, not because they are coming from a
prestigious educational institute but because they humbly
acknowledged their mentors-the rural scientists. A new word
coined there was ‘Grass Root Innovators’ those who came up
with astounding inventions, driven by a basic fact
‘necessity is the mother of invention’.
The seminar showcased learning experiences of these young
IITans who did an internship with these innovators as a part
of their project. Each one of them showcased their
innovator’s work and acknowledging their mentor Ganesham of
HoneyBee who collaborated with the National Innovation
Foundation to bring these innovators into limelight.
Aparanjita , Prasad, Kishore, Swaroop and Dheeraj (IIT
Kharagpur), all going into their third year engineering,
expressed the opinion that their project work was a hands-on
experience that no university could have offered.
They were living with their mentors, watching them do and
undo their inventions. Reliving their learning experiences,
in the luxury of their homes! Usually a project work is
almost a ritual which students like to ‘get over’ quickly
because there is hardly anything new for them to learn. But
this internship gave them the necessary life skills and
first-hand knowledge of technology at work. One need not be
surprised if a qualified scientist does this.
But the difference here is that the mentors are barely
educated and economically backward villagers, who just have
a belly full of fire to make it happen! Grass Root
Innovators who were felicitated
Mallesham (38) This young innovator from Aler in Nalgonda
district designed a loom machine that can weave five sarees
in a day.
GodasuNarsimha (36) Invented hyacinth remover machine which
GHMC has taken on hire to remove the weed near Golkonda Fort
Lake. Guruvayya (64) Invented a sophisticated seed drill cum
herbi sprayer which eases the farmers work.
Syed Subhani designed a tractor mounted boom sprayer which
could spray insecticide over 10 hectares of crop in seven
minutes. He was not present at the function as he was busy
elsewhere.
Each of these innovators shared their experiences with the
audience. Godasu Narsimha said he dreamt of becoming a
mechanical engineer, but somehow landed in to civil
engineering in spite of it he attended mechanical class
lectures. Machines fascinated him the most and he would
dismantle any machine or tool he could lay his hands on, be
it a toy, tractor or computer!
Guruvayya, the wise farmer patiently shared his touching
story where he just wanted to ease farmers troubles of
sowing seeds, as it was very expensive to hire labour.
Not to forget Mr Ganesham of Honey Bee and Palle Srujana the
organiser and compere of the programme. His lively
narrations, interspersed with sharp and witty remarks kept
the audience thoroughly engaged!
The seminar ended with J A C S Rao, Director RTP, NIRD made
an open commitment and promise to anyone who has an
innovative idea and that he would give any kind of monetary
support on behalf of NIRD to manifest the thought into
reality.
Dr Kalpana Sastry, Principal Scientist NAARM, D Brig
Ganesham and J Srikar VP were also present.
Courtesy: Hans India Daily News Paper
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