Pocket-friendly innovations from IITs join India's fight against Covid-19

Institutes across the country have developed testing devices, ventilators priced at Rs 25,000 and sanitising sprays, among other things, at low-cost or on a not-for-profit basis

Fourth-year IIT-Gandhinagar student Amit Kumar had gone to his hometown in Kanpur in March before joining a Japanese-based e-commerce company, when the lockdown was announced. Even though the state issued curfew passes to grocery shops and milk parlours, there was a lot of chaos and locals did not know which shops were open and selling essentials in their area. 

“Getting staples and vegetables became risky because of the coronavirus scare and the lack of awareness about running services in our area,” says Kumar.
 

So Kumar and three of his other from IIT Gandhinagar started filtering data sourced from the city