There are goals which we wish to pursue faster in the larger public interest but often lose track of certain values of subsidiarity in design, action, review and redesign. What does subsidiarity imply in the context of public policy? Let us take one of the most noble, long overdue goal of removing open defection through…
SRISTI and BIRAC-DBT (http://www.birac.nic.in/desc_new.php?id=98) have decided to facilitate the Innovations by students and support value addition by students in grassroots innovations and outstanding traditional knowledge. The purpose is to support early stage student led ideas and innovations even at proof of concept level for recognition and further development in the field of medical devices, diagnostics,…
SRISTI celebrates the creativity and innovation of young technological students by recognising their outstanding projects with Gandhian Young Technological Innovation (GYTI) Awards. These awards are given every year during the Festival of Innovation (FOIN) at Rashtrapati Bhawan in the month of March. Next year, these awards are due tentatively on March 5, 2017 at FOIN.…
When unsung grassroots innovators from different parts of the country stay as a guest of the Hon’ble President of India as a part of Innovation Scholar-in-residence, a small statement is made about Indian value system. There are not too many countries where the Office of the Head of the State hosts a Festival of Innovation at Rashtrapati Bhawan. This journey of creative children, students and farmers and artisans over the last 26 years has been steered by the Honey Bee Network, thanks to the patronage of the last three presidents of our country.
No matter how empathetic a delivery system, there is always a scope to do more, to do better and to think farther. During my recent visit to Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh for a foundation day lecture on Doctors as Designers of an inclusive healthcare system, I learnt so much about the innovations…
The desire for reforms and policy redesign at much faster pace than is the case just now is growing in society. The impatience with inertia is a good sign and public policy makers must take that as a positive sign. Without a set of demanding clients, no institution can pursue continuous innovation. How to institutionalise…
I am just returning from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota from where India injected twenty satellites in a single launch at an extremely low cost. While interacting with scientists, visitors from IITs and other top institutions, and young engineers, I tried to understand their motivation for persistent excellence. I also wanted understand the roots of…
How do we differentiate between self –respect and ego? This is a question I come across quite often among my students and colleagues? The dividing line is thin, but not very blurred. When the cause for which we work gets hurt because of our supposed hurt or annoyance, we are perhaps inflating ego. When we…
Reminders serve little purpose if the victims also resign to a kind of learned-helplessness. With the exception of a few private attempts to dig small tanks, there has been no campaign in the country to store rain water where it falls, that is, in situ conservation. Why has budgetary allocation for such a strategic goal…
The drought has taken its toll in Goa as well. There were many regions where people received water once in two days through the tankers. One could see several dry wells and ponds. The ones that had water were perhaps not adequately utilized. While moving from south to north Goa, we also came across regions where plantation crops…