Five grass-root innovators get exposure at Rashtrapati Bhavan

The President's thrust to bring grass-root innovators in the country to the mainstream provided an opportunity to five innovators to stay at Rashtrapati Bhavan for 20 days (July 1 to 20).

M. B. Avinash, Tenith Adithyaa, Manisha Mohan, Dharamveer Kamboj and Gurmail Singh Dhonsi - are among the first to get an exposure through the innovation scholars-in residence scheme launched by the President in December 11, 2013.

The scheme aims to promote the spirit of innovation and giving further impetus to grassroots innovation activities.

"The President is firmly convinced that in the long run if India has to join the leading nations of the world and our economy has to grow fast the science and technology has to break new frontiers, innovation and encouragement of innovation is an absolute critical activity which should happen across the country," said Venu Rajamony, Press Secretary to the President.

"And what is wonderful and what is fortunate in our country that we have a large number of grass-root entrepreneurs who are doing different and interesting things in different parts of the country but perhaps they have not publicized the adequate enough, the people of the country do not know them well enough. So through the President's efforts he is trying to highlight the cause of innovation, he is trying to put the spotlight on the wonderful work being done by large number of grass-root innovators," Rajamony added.

Manisha Mohan, a fourth year student of Aeronautical Engineering, has developed Society Harnessing Equipment (SHE), a device to safeguard women from acts of molestation, assault and sexual harassment.

The lingerie designed by Manisha and two of her friends is equipped with an electronic circuit, which disables the assaulter on the spot without causing damage to the wearer.

The garment, which is already patented, is equipped with pressure sensors which actuate when the pressure values are attained leading to shock generation and sending message to parents and police using embedded GPS and GMS systems.

" Going back to the year 2012 Dec., the harassment of the girl in Delhi was the turning point for all to realize that we need to take a step against this menace. And that was the time that it actually picked and I thought of working and bringing in technology to evade this rape and incidences related to assault," said Manisha.

M B Avinash, a Ph. D. student at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) in Bangalore, has developed a self-cleaning functional molecular material.

Similar to lotus leaves, which have self-cleaning properties, Avinash developed a simple solution processing technique. The young innovator is thrilled to be a guest at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"It gives enough confidence to others also to try and do something. It's not that you do something or people would say, "Oh! he has done something". Its not a situation like this, people recognize of whatever the innovation or creative work they have done, so it would inspire others as well. So, I hope in near term or in longer term, country will be a leader rather than being a follower," Avinash said.

Another young innovator is Tenith Adithyaa, a Class XI student from Madurai. He has invented a Banana Leaf Technology and Adjustable Electricity Extension Board.

Naturally, banana leaves dry within two to three days. Adithyaa has developed a process which makes leaves resistant to drying and preserves them for over a year, without using chemicals.

It increases its durability, malleability, temperature, resistivity and weight bearing capacity without affecting its natural colour. It is an eco-friendly technology.

Adjustable Electricity Extension Board contains long parallel slots to slide and fit multiple plugs of different sizes and types at a time to power small and large devices.

"Many people won't get an opportunity like this. It's a golden opportunity, and India is the only country which is giving great opportunity to innovators like us. And, we are representing innovators, more than a million, in India. So, we are proud to be in here representing all the innovators in our country, and I am going to close the mouth of speakers who are saying India is not promoting innovators. We are!," said Tenith Adithyaa.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan has invited two innovative farmers from rural areas.

Dharamveer Kamboj, who hails from Yamunanagar District in Haryana, has developed a multipurpose processing machine. The portable machine is capable of extracting juices and essence from Aloe Vera, Amla, Jamun and other herbs and processes them for making various products.

It offers a condensation mechanism which helps in extraction of essence, gel from flowers and medicinal plants for herbal applications.

Dharamveer has installed his machine at Rashtrapati Bhavan and is processing various products from fresh fruits.

"A small farmer from the rural area is invited as guest to the President, is like a dream come true. No other President in the world has done this. I am happy that a small innovator, who is uneducated, and was first given the president's award, and then invited as a guest-in-residence," said Kamboj.

Gurmail Singh Dhonsi, a farmer from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan has developed a Rapid Compost Aerator.

It's a tractor-driven machine in which the process of turning the compost has been mechanized. It has reduced the total time for converting the biomass into manure in 25-40 days, against 90-120 days through conventional methods.

It aerates, humidifies and mixes the bio wastes and can process 400 ton biomass per hour.

He believes innovation in farming sector will bring prosperity to farmers.

"With the invention of new machinery and farm technology, farmers in the country will be happy and the problem of labour shortage will be solved. Nowadays, we are facing a shortage of farm labour and we have invented this machine to curb the problem of labour shortage," said Dhonsi.

While staying at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the innovators got an opportunity to interact with concerned ministries and research institutions for possible support to develop their products and their commercialization.

.