A Small Step towards Dignity of Labour
Raghunath Lohar, an aeronautical student, was walking past a construction site when he saw a woman carrying bricks on her head lose her balance. A heavy brick fell on her foot and broke her toes. He felt bad for the woman, but more than that, this incident raised several questions in his mind. What is the point of being an engineer if he cannot devise an implement that could help lessen the burden of these people? He started thinking of ways on how this could be done. Then he saw an advertisement from the National Innovation Council which called for proposals on models that could reduce the drudgery of the workers. This gave him an incentive to start working on what he had been thinking ever since he saw the woman laborer break her toes. Finally, he was able to design a vessel desk. Bricks and other materials could be put in this vessel, and the light desk to carry it was so designed that it distributed the burden on the two shoulders instead of the whole weight falling on the head. Also, there was no question of losing the balance with this implement. He sent the design to the National Innovation Council. His model was selected for the award, which carried a cash prize of 50,000 rupees. The vessel desk can be used by both men and women. Raghunath has also designed different kinds of attachments to go with the model for use separately by farmers or other workers to reduce their drudgery. Also, the model suits the Indian conditions. Raghunath says that it cost him between 700 to 800 rupees to make this model. He feels that the model can be improved upon and produced on a large scale for use by construction workers.
We often see women, young and old, carrying loads of bricks and other construction materials on their heads or men carrying huge sacks of food grains and other stuff, or these people breaking stones at construction sites in severe weather conditions, risking all kinds of injuries. Also, we see men with bare bodies getting into manholes to clean sewers without any safeguards or proper implements. While science and technology in our country have advanced by leaps and bounds, very little thought has gone into manufacturing simple and low-cost implements that could reduce the risks of injury, pain, and physical burden and drudgery of the working class.
"These questions had bothered him," says Sam Pitroda, the Chairman of the National Innovation Council. Mr. Pitroda says that attention has, for too long, been focused on the problems of the rich, and there was a need for an Indian model of inclusive innovation that focused on the poor and the common man.
Source: FB
Raghunath Lohar, an aeronautical student, was walking past a construction site when he saw a woman carrying bricks on her head lose her balance. A heavy brick fell on her foot and broke her toes. He felt bad for the woman, but more than that, this incident raised several questions in his mind. What is the point of being an engineer if he cannot devise an implement that could help lessen the burden of these people? He started thinking of ways on how this could be done. Then he saw an advertisement from the National Innovation Council which called for proposals on models that could reduce the drudgery of the workers. This gave him an incentive to start working on what he had been thinking ever since he saw the woman laborer break her toes. Finally, he was able to design a vessel desk. Bricks and other materials could be put in this vessel, and the light desk to carry it was so designed that it distributed the burden on the two shoulders instead of the whole weight falling on the head. Also, there was no question of losing the balance with this implement. He sent the design to the National Innovation Council. His model was selected for the award, which carried a cash prize of 50,000 rupees. The vessel desk can be used by both men and women. Raghunath has also designed different kinds of attachments to go with the model for use separately by farmers or other workers to reduce their drudgery. Also, the model suits the Indian conditions. Raghunath says that it cost him between 700 to 800 rupees to make this model. He feels that the model can be improved upon and produced on a large scale for use by construction workers.
We often see women, young and old, carrying loads of bricks and other construction materials on their heads or men carrying huge sacks of food grains and other stuff, or these people breaking stones at construction sites in severe weather conditions, risking all kinds of injuries. Also, we see men with bare bodies getting into manholes to clean sewers without any safeguards or proper implements. While science and technology in our country have advanced by leaps and bounds, very little thought has gone into manufacturing simple and low-cost implements that could reduce the risks of injury, pain, and physical burden and drudgery of the working class.
"These questions had bothered him," says Sam Pitroda, the Chairman of the National Innovation Council. Mr. Pitroda says that attention has, for too long, been focused on the problems of the rich, and there was a need for an Indian model of inclusive innovation that focused on the poor and the common man.
Source: FB