THE NATIONAL INNOVATION Foundation’s (NIF) efforts to start a movement in innovation in the hinterland of India are laudable. For the same purpose, President APJ Abdul Kalam awarded certificates to the four recipients. It shows the efforts are pragmatic and can yield dividends in the long run. An overview of the work done by the recipients proves that innovation isn't limited to only big science laboratories. Rural India, too, ca play a role.

 

Makarand Kale, 46, from Sangli, Maharashtra, has developed a "herbal" bulletproof jacket. Kale hopes that defence scientists in Hyderabad will evaluate his bulletproof vest and consequently authenticate his claim. The idea, he says, come to him after years of chewing wheat grains. When wheat is chewed for some time, it results in a tasteless sticky residue. Following an accident, he came to know that the sticky residue turns into solid and a hard substance when dried. His years of research finally bore fruit when he developed his bulletproof material, fabricated from a mixture of grains like wheat, millets, dal and layers of cotton cloth.

Kale says that in a conducted test, his vest resisted a bullet from a Walther PPK. He is now looking at defence experts to test it completely and accept it. Says Chinaz on this innovation: "We expect this chest to be cheaper and lighter than standard bullet proof vests used by the police and the army.”

 

Prem Singh, 24, a school dropout from Ambala, Harayana, has used a mobile-operated device to turn on the microwave from office or prevent a car from being stolen while the person is on a holiday. The system developed comnprises a cell-phone operated switch, which can operate devices like microwaves, car locks, etc.

 

Supriya Chotray, 13, from Khurda Orissa, displays an umbrella that prevents the person underneath it from getting heatstroke. He is an eighth standard student. Inspired by the heat wave in Orissa in 2003, Supriya made an umbrella with a water sprayer, thermometer and a siren attached to the handle of the umbrella. The umbrella has an upper layer of white cloth, below which lies a layer of sponge. Another layer of black cloth is placed below this layer of sponge and a water sprayer is attached to the handle of the umbrella. When the temperature rises above 35 degree centigrade, the built-in thermometer forces the umbrella to sprinkle water from the attached spraying canister saturating the sponge. This low-cost umbrella is useful for travellers, elderly people, children with low heat tolerance and for those street vendors.

 

Dwarka Prasad Chaurasiya, 76, from Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, is confident enough to walk across the English Channel with the help of his self-fabricated shoes, which allows a person to walk over the water. Chaurasiya’s water-walking shoes are made of thermocol. The shoes, which provide sufficient buoyancy and maneuverability, are three feet long, 10-inches wide and 8 inches thick. He wants to cross the English Channel wearing these.

 

Another notable invention is the development of a five-wheeled car that is built with the hope of making a cheaper vehicle to most of the middle-class families. Monaj and Harimohan, 18 and 23, estimate that after fine-tuning the design their car will be able to reach top speeds of 80 km/h and average fuel consumption will be 75-80 km/l. They built the prototype using scrap materials such as scooter wheels, a moped engine, and a chassis built from available nickel pipes. The four front and rear wheels are fixed and only the fifth wheel fitted in the center is used in steering.

 

While the President distributed prizes, certificate and prize money from Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 10,000, the department of Science and Technology (DST) announced that it would provide annual funding of about Rs 10 crore to the NIF.

 

After a decade of scouting, NIF has documented over 65,000 ideas. But enthusiasm over the large number has been tempered by concerns as few have hit the markets.  Indeed, most ideas have yet to shed their image of amusing curiosities. NIF officials believe that many have the potential to capture smaller market corners. According to Chinzah, "We have sent products to five continents - a raisin sorting machine has been flown to Peru; a milking machine to Uganda; a pomegranate de-seeder to Turkey and the US; a device to assist in tree-climbing to the US and Australia.”

 

However the NIF officials sounded a bit concerned and stressed that the ideas need more than rural enthusiasm. Chinaz further added, "We need to improve efficiency of the product through research…it is beyond the scope of what the NIF has been able to do so far.” Kalam also underlined the three elements necessary for the move towards the market – “the heart of India’s scientific community”, “the mind of Indian industry” and “the funding from banks.”