Young innovators get the pat from gram panchayats
The Hindu
An initiative of Telangana State Innovation Cell, the awards are to sensitise villagers on the concept of frugal innovation
Four rural innovators, including a school student, were recognised by their gram panchayats and presented with the ‘Intinta Innovator Grameena Awards’ , initiated by Telangana State Innovation Cell (TSIC), as part of the Republic Day celebrations.
Chief Innovation Officer of the State Shanta Thoutam said the award is an inclusive step taken by TSIC towards sensitising villages about the significance of innovation and exemplifying an innovator from the neighbourhood and sharing his or her journey of problem solving with the residents. In four villages of Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Wanaparthy, Mahabubabad and Mulugu districts, the gram panchayats recognised innovators, she said.
Edulapuram Shashidhar, a young innovator from Azamnagar village of Jayashankar Bhupalapally, was recognised for a mechanism he devised to automatically switch off and turn on streetlights in his village. His innovation works on a one-to-many mechanism, where one device fixed in the respective lane automates the on-off control for all the streetlights, thus paving way for energy conservation, a release from the IT and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao’s office said.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.