SIIRD Master Document

Students Initiative for Integrated
Rural Development (SIIRD)

MASTER
DOCUMENT
(2006 2014)

Updated till: August 1, 2014

Prepared by:
Prakhar Gupta
3
rd
year member, SIIRD
Submitted to:
Prof. V.K. Nangia
Principal Investigator, SIIRD
Contents
PHASE I (Village Identification, 2006 2008)
1. How it started? Village Bhijouli
2. Project on National Competitiveness in Knowledge Economy
3. Evolution of SIIRD
4. Village Surveys
5. Chharba
PHASE II: (Initiatives, 2008 to present)
6. Education Initiative
6.1. ICT Awareness & Entrepreneurship
6.2. ICT Computer Donation
6.3. ICT Primary Education
6.4. Girls Education
6.5. Library Initiative
6.6. Inspire Initiative
6.7. JNV Initiative
6.8. Spiritual awareness
7. Health Initiative
7.1. Health camp #1
7.2. Health camp #2
7.3. Health camp #3
7.4. Health Awareness camp
7.5. Women Health & Hygiene workshop #1
7.6. Health camp #4
7.7. Women Health & Hygiene workshop #2
8. Renewable Energy Initiative
9. Young Champions Program
10. Agriculture Initiative
10.1. Drip Irrigation with One Prosper Intl.
10.2. Agriculture camp #1
11. Employability Initiative
11.1. Employment Initiative (2009)
11.2. Newspaper Bag Initiative (2014)
12. Cycle Donation Initiative
12.1. Repository of students
12.2. Waste Paper Collection Drives
12.3. Cycle Donation
13. Spiritual Awareness
13.1. Brahmakumaris, World Spiritual Organisation
13.2. Touch the light session #1
13.3. Touch the light session #2
14. Financial Literacy Initiative
14.1. Overview
14.2. Banking Workshop #1
14.3. Banking workshop #2
PHASE III (Awards, Awareness & Sensitization)
15. ACARA Challenge
15.1. myRain
15.2. Bioserv
16. RIET students visit
16.1. Visit of RIET, Abohar students to IITR
17. Awards
17.1. HCT Wharton Tournament in Abu Dhabi
18. Conferences
18.1. Sanghol conference, Sanghol, Punjab
18.2. RJNLU conference, Chandigarh
18.3. IMT conference, Gurgaon
19. PAN IIT
19.1. PAN IIT 2012
20. College presentations
20.1. Moradabad Institute of Technology, Moradabad
20.2. IMS Unison University, Dehradun
20.3. Quantum School of Technology, Roorkee
21. Cognizance 2011
21.1. Back to the Roots event at Cognizance 2011

PHASE I
(Village Identification, 2006-
2008)

1. How it started?
It all started in 2006 when an undergraduate student who approached
Professor Vinay Kumar Nangia with a request to work with him on a
project was asked to carry out resource mapping survey in a village near
Roorkee, close to National Highway 58. He was told to create an inventory
of hard and soft infrastructure of the village as well as the demographic
profile of the village. The idea was to familiarize the students with the
ground realities, make them learn documentation and identify issues and
challenges faced by the inhabitants of village Bijhouli of Haridwar district of
Uttarakhand.
In January 2006 a team of six B. Tech. students namely, Ashish Sharma,
Amit Jindal, Ankit Srivastava, Niraj Shah, Vaibhav Balia and Varun Nidhi
visited Bijhouli and spent over 8 hrs in conducting a resource mapping
survey of village.
In the same year, the Department of Information Technology, Government
of India awarded a project named National Competitiveness in Knowledge
Economy to IIT Roorkee with Professor V. K. Nangia, as the Principal
Investigator. Developing a collaborative model of academia, industry and
government on the ground was one of the deliverables of the project. Thus
Students Initiative for Integrated Rural Development (SIIRD) was born
within the fold of the Knowledge Economy Project and emerged as its rural
development vertical. The idea was to develop a collaborative model of
academia-industry-government in the rural setting where majority of
Indian population lives.

2. National Competitive in Knowledge Economy
Given below is the TEMPLATE OF COLLABORATIVE AND CO-OPERATIVE
SYNERGY AMONGST INDUSTRY-ACADEMIA-GOVERNMENT-SOCIETY FOR
REALIZING A KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
The template proposed by IIT-R for adoption by all the stakeholders in
knowledge economy is evolved after carrying out multi-disciplinary, multi-
faceted activities under the knowledge economy project, in fulfillment of
the main responsibility of creating awareness of the challenges of the
Knowledge Economy and suitably designing a model of collaborative
synergy among industry-academia-government and society.

I. IIT R Approach

The first task of IIT-R under the project, was to study the levels of
awareness of knowledge economy and knowledge management among
the stakeholders, while simultaneously generating deeper understanding
among key stakeholders of the scope and significance of knowledge,
technology, research and development and innovation management in
knowledge economy. The emphasis was on Invention-Innovation-
Incubation, since these three factors are necessary to achieve competitive
advantage.

IIT R as an academic institution enjoys the advantages of having multi
disciplinary expertise; committed faculty with wide and diverse experience;
large repository of knowledge assets; having long term perspectives not
limited to immediate results; not being limited in vision and approach and
above all having a battery of highly talented but mobile student body
representing diverse backgrounds and regions to serve as ambassadors in
our mission. Hence the IIT R approach harnessed technology to
integrate/include the large left out sections of the society who can benefit
and contribute to the national economy and also identified NGOs as an
important link to reach out to the marginalized and poor to be involved in
the project activities. Above all, the large dynamic student force of the
institute was motivated to be active participants in the exercise which was
multi-dimensional and carried out in different layers. The results of these
efforts speak for themselves.

II. Identifying verticals of collaboration among stakeholders

The Knowledge Economy team conducted surveys and interviewed
members of the Faculty, Administration and Heads of Incubation Centres,
Intellectual Property Rights Cells etc., at various educational institutions
and Centres of Excellence to study the current level of awareness about
Knowledge Management (KM) and Knowledge Economy (KE) among the
stakeholders and also to identify the verticals through which the
collaboration could be made possible across these stakeholders.

They also administered questionnaires on Knowledge Economy to the
students at various institutes, in order to evaluate the level of awareness
of the Knowledge Economy among the student population.

Case studies were conducted on knowledge management practices in
industry. An empirical study on Incubation was also undertaken for
recognizing the growing relevance of incubation centres in the new
emerging economies, since incubation provides a link between Innovation,
Investment and Enterprise, commercialize new technologies and
strengthen the economy at both local and national levels. Further, eighty
seven significant events such as brainstorming sessions, workshops and
seminars were organized on themes relevant to Knowledge Economy
mainly in states and union territories of north India and west India. The
participants of these events were drawn from a broad spectrum of society
including academic institutions, government, industry, non-governmental
organizations, banks and financial institutions. Radio broadcasts were also
made by the Knowledge Economy Team to spread awareness of
Knowledge Economy.

Research on A comparative study of Vocational Education and Training
Systems in India and European Union, Germany and China with focus on
Services Sectors of Banking, Insurance, Retailing and Tourism and field
study in the states of Haryana, NCTD and Punjab was commissioned by
IIT-R which was conducted by Shri Vinay Shankar, I.A.S., (Retd.), former
Secretary, Government of India.

III. Student component of the project

IIT Roorkee carried out numerous deliberate tasks in order to study the
unique characteristics in terms of strengths and weaknesses of all the
stakeholders identified for collaboration. The efforts emphasized the
involvement of academia as the pivot for collaboration. IIT Roorkee made
use of the student force and their unique strengths to the fullest by
ensuring their active involvement and participation.

Five members of the student team also undertook projects at TIFAC to
design and implement database for Telecommunications Equipment
Purchase Programme (TePP); to design and develop a portal of databases
of public funded R&D institutions/mechanisms and build an inventory in
the form of a meta directory; to study management of technology in
Knowledge Economy, with particular reference to science and technology,
mechanisms to nurture innovation, technology foresight, technology
intermediation; to analyze export competitiveness by studying the
correlation between IP generation capacity and the total economic/trade
turnover; an assessment of how a few key sectors are technologically
positioned and to prepare a compendium of schemes for support by way
of grants to nurture innovation in the private sector as well as compilation
of various schemes in a few select developed as well as developing
countries. The team also assisted in the preparation of the course material
on Managing Technology in a Knowledge Economy at SUNY (State
University of New York), Buffalo.

The work carried out by the team was highly commended by TIFAC.
Students of IIT-R conducted a study which involved understanding the level
of awareness about Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy
issues; Knowledge Management approaches; Intellectual Property Rights
etc., among the students in various institutions. A questionnaire targeted
to understand the current level of awareness about the issues of KE and
KM was administered to the students of the Institute first and about 300
samples were collected from undergraduate students. The questionnaires
were also administered to the students who attended the
workshops/seminars conducted by the Institute. Aptitude levels were
graded from best to poor, based on academic as well as extra-curricular
performances.

Interviews and surveys were conducted within the Institute as well as at
eighteen other Institutes/Centres, viz., Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore NSRCEL,
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad - IPR Cell; NBDI; KMC, Indian
School of Business, Hyderabad WCE (Wadhwani Centre for
Entrepreneurship): K-Hub, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur SIDBI
Incubation Centre, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
Practice School; TBI, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi FITT
(Foundation for Innovation Technology and Transfer), Indian Institute of
Management, Lucknow Incubation Centre, Maulana Azad National
Institute of Technology, Bhopal, Malaviya National Institute of Technology,
Jaipur, Rajiv Gandhi Technical University, Bhopal, Jawaharlal Nehru
Technical University, Hyderabad, National Research Development
Corporation, New Delhi, National Institute of Agricultural Marketing,
Jaipur, Delhi College of Engineering, New Delhi, Jamia Milia University,
New Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore.

The Knowledge Economy Project Team at the Institute envisaged an online
platform, to increase student - faculty interaction in research, leading to an
environment conducive to quality research and a synergistic association
between students and faculty members. The idea got further evolved and
refined making it more practical to implement. Since then it has evolved to
its present form of Student-Teacher Interaction Forum on Knowledge and
Innovation (STIFKI).

The objectives of this platform are to enhance research and consultancy
culture in IIT-R; to help a faculty member have access to students for
collaboration in a project and to provide opportunities to a student which
allow him to collaborate in a project of his interest and with a faculty
member of his choice; to provide an effective channel of communication
between the faculty members and students involved in a project during its
progress, and constantly strive to increase the effectiveness of this channel
and to ascertain accountability on part of students involved in a project
with faculty members. STIFKI has now been constituted as a formal
structure in IIT-R.

A Group for Interactive Learning (GIL) was also formed by students of IITR
under this project. Sharing of ideas during the interactions provided
students with a model of the way experts work together to learn and
understand. Interactive learning also challenged students to develop their
own capabilities. The nature of interactions was between Student-Student,
Student-Teacher, Student-Alumni and Student-Outsider.

Students also worked on the Ecocab initiative to address the present day
problems of cycle rickshaw users and environment pollution. Through the
Ecocab initiative, it is intended to make the cycle rickshaw more
accessible and user-friendly on one hand and provide comfort and
incentives for the rickshaw puller on the other, while also making them
senior-citizen friendly. Students also contributed to the preparation of a
Glossary on Knowledge management apart from creating knowledge
sharing groups.

3. Evolution of SIIRD

Team of Students
In 2006, a SIIRD Team consisting of 6 B.Tech. students, then in their
1
st
year, from 4 different branches of IIT Roorkee were built. These
students undertook a visit to Bijhouli village in Haridwar district.
By Aug. 2008, the Team had expanded to more than 25 B. Tech.
students of IIT Roorkee led by Ashish Sharma and Niraj Shah. By
then, the students had been to villages in Haridwar, Tehri Garhwal
and Dehradun districts. Also, the village to be targeted for rural
development project had been identified.
The students belonged to 9? departments of IIT Roorkee.
Also, 2 undergraduate students from College of Engineering,
Roorkee joined SIIRD Team and visited Chharba, a village in
Dehradun district
Before leaving IIT Roorkee after graduation, Ashish and Niraj passed
on? the baton to Gurdeep Singh, who was then in his 3
rd
year.
In Jun. 2009, Gurdeep Singh and Gaurav Nemade selected around 25
students from first year which took the number of students in the
project to 50.
The students in team belonged to 10 Departments of IIT Roorkee

Mentors
In the beginning of SIIRD in 2006, Prof. Nangia was the sole mentor
By 2009, Team was enriched with experience of 5 more mentors.

Year of
Joining
Mentor About the Mentor
2006 Mr. Manoj Sharma A retired industrialist

Vast experience of guiding students
belonging to world class institutes &
universities including Harvard
2007 Prof. C. S. Sood Professor in Political Science at H.N.B.
Garhwal University

2008 Prof. H. K. Verma Deputy Director, IIT Roorkee
Principal Investigator of UNDP and
Govt. of Uttarakhand sponsored
projects on e-Governance
2009 Dr. Rajat Agarwal

Assistant Professor, Department of
Management Studies, IIT Roorkee,

2009 Dr. Vinay Sharma Assistant Professor, Department of
Management Studies, IIT Roorkee

Visit To Bijhouli Village, Haridwar District (Jan. to Mar. 2006)
In Jan. 2006 a team of 6 students namely, Ashish Sharma, Amit Jindal, Ankit
Srivastava, Niraj Shah, Vaibhav Balia and Varun Nidhi visited a village. This
village is known as Bijhouli. It falls in Narsen Block of Roorkee Tehsil in
Haridwar District.
The team members spent over 8 man-days in conducting a resource
mapping survey of village. Aspects considered were comprehensive,
covering population, local administration, connectivity, literacy,
educational institutions, economic conditions, employability, drinking
water and health facilities, civic amenities, cattle and veterinary services,
cooperatives, banks, agriculture, electricity, land usage, irrigation, other
infrastructure, condition of women etc.
In last two field visits in March 2006, team was assisted by government
statisticians. The interviews of the families of villagers on issues like
education, health, nutrition and gender in the village were conducted.
THE MAJOR FINDINGS WERE:-
A. EDUCATION:-

1. The major problem was of the standard of Govt. School which
needed to be looked into. The quality and quantity of the midday
meal was also complained by all.
2. A Higher Secondary school needed to be setup in the village which
was demanded by the people which would also prove to be very
helpful for the education of girls.
3. Number of teaching staff and their quality needed to be improved.

B. HEALTH AND NUTRITION:-

1. Poor medical facilities neither doctor nor any hospital.
2. The facilities given before and after pregnancy were inconsistent i.e
some were happy while others complained of rent seeking at
Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) center and hospital for vaccinations.
3. Anganwadi food was not up to the standard, neither in quality nor in
quantity.
4. The orphan children were also not given proper facilities.

C. GENDER ISSUES:-

1. The girl child was not taken seriously for her studies. She had to give
up her studies due to social constraints of the village.
2. There were cases told by the residents about eve teasings.
3. Some families followed orthodox thinking and did not let the women
work.
4. The girls and boys were married before legally permissible ages. Girls
usually at 15-16 yrs while for the boys the age was 17-18 yrs. This
was also due to the social setup of the village.

Findings about the village in nutshell:
1. Terrain : plain
2. Connectivity: accessible, an rcc road joins village to NH-58 which
connects Haridwar and New Delhi
3. Population: Muslims (80% ), rest Hindus including SCs
4. Urbanization: Village showed characteristics of a semi-urban
settlement
5. Major developmental issues:
erratic supply of electricity
lack of quality education
unemployment
gender inequalities due to orthodoxy

In Nov. 2006, a meeting among Prof. Vinay K. Nangia, Mr. Manoj Sharma
and SIIRD team members took place. It was:
proposed to explore rural culture in interiors of Uttarakhand a
hilly state- which had been untouched by urbanization
Decided to visit villages in a valley near famous Surkanda Devi
Temple in the district of Tehri Garhwal.

4. VILLAGE SURVEYS

Visits To 10 Villages In A Valley Near Surkanda Devi Temple Lying In
Thauldhar Blockof Tehri-Garhwal District (Dec. 2006)
In Dec. 2006, a team of 4 IIT Roorkee students namely, Ankit Srivastava,
Ashish Sharma, Niraj Shah and Rahul Bahuguna visited a valley in
Thauldhar block in Tehri district in order to conduct base line surveys of
following villages:
1. Tutai Chak
2. Chogani
3. Kilwan
4. Kansyud
5. Daang-
6. Jhakogi Brahmanon Ki
7. Jhakogi Kilwanon Ki
8. Raiduni
9. Gair
10. Shivalipatal

The team members spent 2 nights and 3 days, braving cold, mountainous
terrain and lack of basic amenities, for sensitizing themselves with the
difficult lives of villagers in hilly regions of Uttarakhand. Despite adversities
worsened by apathy of government and bureaucracy, the villagers
extended warm hospitality to team members.
In baseline surveys, aspects considered were comprehensive, covering
population, local administration, connectivity, literacy, educational
institutions, economic conditions, employability, drinking water and health
facilities, civic amenities, cattle and veterinary services, cooperatives,
banks, agriculture, electricity, land usage, irrigation, other infrastructure,
condition of women etc

Findings in nutshell:
1. Terrain: Located in difficult hilly terrain
2. Connectivity: Poor connectivity
3. Population: sparse and Hindu
4. Urbanization: rural ethos intact
5. Migratory nature of villagers: villagers
spent 4 months closer to root of the valley during winter and
moved to higher reaches (dandas) for rest of the year
6. Major developmental issues:
Poor connectivity
Non-availability of drinking water in summer
Lack of electricity.
Pathetic health care facilities
Resentment against NGOs
7. Also, availability of computers - thanks to a state government
scheme - in Inter College of this valley without electricity was an
example of disadvantages of Centralized Planning

In Nov. 2007 a meeting took place which saw the participation of the
following:
Prof. Sood, H.N.B. Garhwal University
Prof. Vinay K. Nangia, HoD, DoMS,
Mr. Manoj Sharma
Dr. Z. Rahman, Asstt. Prof., DoMS,
Ashish Sharma, B.Tech., 3rd yr.
Niraj Shah, B.Tech., 3rd yr.

The following points were discussed in the meeting:
Issues of accessibility of the villages in valley near Surkunda Devi
Temple and nature of mix of? its population nearly all Hindus -
were discussed. The population was found too homogeneous and
therefore, these villages were inappropriate for a pilot rural
development project.
Other villages like Maana, which are in further interiors of
Uttarakhand near Indo-China border were also discussed for being
targeted. However, the difficulty in frequently visiting the villages
due to being capped by snow for 6 months and far away from IIT
Roorkee made them less preferable options.
It was planned to identify a village which
showed representative characteristics of Uttarakhands rural
culture i.e. a representative mix of population of different
communities especially Hindus and Muslims
was more accessible at the same time
On the advice of Prof. Sood, it was decided to target villages in
Sahaspur block of Dehradun district

On January 22, 2008 a 2nd meeting took place which saw the
participation of following members:
Prof. Sood, H.N.B. Garhwal University
Prof. Vinay K, Nangia, HoD, DoMS,
Mr. Manoj Sharma, Coordinator, Integrated Rural Development
Project,
Dr. Z. Rahman, Asstt. Prof., DoMS,
Ashish Sharma, B.Tech., 3rd yr., Metallurgical & Materials Engg.,
Niraj Shah, B.Tech., 3rd yr., Electronics & Communication Engg.

The outcomes of meeting were as follows:
In total at least 6 villages were decided to be identified in Sahaspur
block for baseline and need appraisal survey.
These 6 villages were to be chosen such that at least 3 villages are on
either side of the road forming a triangle. Also 2 of these 3 had to be
closer to the road and 1 had to be farther away (at maximum 4 km)
from the road.
Given the opportunity, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was to be
employed for learning about the needs of the villagers.

Visits To 5 Villages In Sahaspur Block of Dehradun District:
Field visits of villages in Sahaspur Block, Dehradun were undertaken by
students of IIT Roorkee (given below) from January 25-27, 2008
B.Tech. 3rd Year students of IIT Roorkee namely Ashish Sharma and Niraj
Shah and B.Tech 1st year students Arkapol Basu, Lalit Mohan, Ravi
Chaudhary and Shubham Sharma participated in field visits to following
villages:
1. Rampur
2. Lakshmipur
3. Shekhonwala
4. Dhulkot
5. Nav Gaon

In baseline surveys, aspects considered were comprehensive, covering
population, local administration, connectivity, literacy, educational
institutions, economic conditions, employability, drinking water and health
facilities, civic amenities, cattle and veterinary services, cooperatives,
banks, agriculture, electricity, land usage, irrigation, other infrastructure,
condition of women etc
Findings in nutshell:
Terrain: villages lie in Dehradun valley; semi-hill terrain
Connectivity: Villages are accessible thanks to NH-72
Population: Population of block is representative in nature ; consists
of sizable population of Hindus including SC, ST as well as Muslims
Urbanization: almost vanished or rapidly vanishing rural ethos in
villages such as Jhajra which were spread along NH- 72 or/ and
closer to Dehradun city
Major developmental issues:
Unemployment
transformation of farmers into landless unskilled or semi-
skilled labourers after selling agricultural land at exorbitant
prices
lack of quality education
vanishing rural ethos

Unlike villages of Tehri Garhwal, drinking water and electricity were
not major issues

Team shared these findings with a local NGO in Sahaspur block, following
which:
NGO suggested Chharba village in Sahaspur block , thanks to its
accessibility and diversity in population make up, would be an ideal
village for SIIRD project
Team visited Chharba from March 15-16, 2008 to confirm the same.
In order to find out possibility of undertaking an Information &
Communication Technology (ICT) initiative in Chharba village team
also assessed demand of ICT among villagers of Chharba during its
visit from April 19-20, 2009.

Summary
The first challenge was the identification of village. The village was to be
physically accessible considering the rocky and mountainous topology of
Uttarakhand. The village was required to have the support of local govt.
bodies and was to be crime free for students to work.

Time
Frame
Villages Region SIIRD Members
Involved
Man
days
Findings
Jan 2006 Bijhouli Narsan
block,
Haridwar
Ashish Sharma,
Amit Jindal,
AnkitSrivastava,
Niraj Shah,
VaibhavBalia
and VarunNidhi
10 Terrain was plain
and majority of the
population (80%)
was Muslim
Nov 2006- Meeting between Prof Nangia, Mr. Manoj Sharma (Social entrepreneur)
and SIIRD team members.
Proposed to explore rural culture in interiors of Uttarakhand which was untouched
by urbanization
Decided to survey villages in a valley near famous Surkunda Devi temple in
TehriGadhwal district.
Dec 2006 1.Tutai Chak
2.Chogani
3.Kilwan
4.Kansyud
5.Daang-
6.Jhakogi
Brahmanon Ki
7.Jhakogi
Kilwanon Ki
8.Raiduni
9.Gair
10.Shivalipatal
Thauldhar
Block of
Tehri-
Garhwal
District
(near
Surkunda
Devi
temple)
Ashish Sharma,
AnkitSrivastava,
Niraj Shah,
Rahul
Bahuguna
20 Poor connectivity,
the population was
sparse and mainly
Hindu.
In Nov. 2007 a meeting took place which saw the participation of Prof. Sood, H.N.B.
Garhwal University, Prof. Vinay K. Nangia, HoD, DoMS, Mr. Manoj Sharma, Dr. Z.
Rahman, Asstt. Prof., DoMS, Ashish Sharma, B.Tech., 3rd yr., Niraj Shah, B.Tech., 3rd
yr.
Villages like Maana were also discussed for being targeted but difficulty in frequently
visiting due to being snow capped for 6 months made the team drop the idea.

On 22 Jan. 2008 2nd meeting took place which saw the participation of Prof. Sood,
H.N.B. Garhwal University, Prof. Vinay K, Nangia, HoD, DoMS, Mr. Manoj Sharma,
Coordinator, Integrated Rural Development Project, Dr. Z. Rahman, Asst. Prof.,
DoMS, Ashish Sharma, Niraj Shah.
Outcomes of the meeting: 6 villageds to be identified in Sahaspur block for baseline
survey were suggested by Prof. Sood.

25-27 Jan
2008
Rampur,
Lakshmipur,
Shekhonwala
Dhulkot
NavGaon
Sahaspur
block,
Dehradun
Ashish Sharma,
Niraj Shah
ArkapolBasu,
Lalit Mohan,
Ravi
Chaudhary,
Shubham
Sharma
18 Rapidly vanishing
rural ethos as they
are closer to
Dehradun city.
15-16
March
2008
Chharba Sahaspur
block,
Dehradun
Ashish Sharma,
Niraj Shah
ArkapolBasu
6 Reasons for
selection
mentioned below.

5 CHHARBA

In Mar. 2009, the team members familiarized themselves with Chharba (or
Chharba) which is spread in an area of more than 60 sq. km. It was well
connected to Dehradun and Vikasnagar through NH- 72. Branching out
from NH- 72 an 8 km long road ran through the heart of Chharba on the
way to Mussoorie dividing Chharba into 3 regions, namely, Lower Chharba,
Middle Chharba and Upper Chharba.
With a population of more than 4,000 voters and 14,000 villagers the
village boasted of a population make-up exhibiting representative traits of
Uttarakhand's rural population. It consists of 40% Muslims, 30% Scheduled
Castes, 15% Himachalis with rest comprising of Purvaiyas, Paschamis and
3%Sikhs. Children of these villagers receive education in 4 primary schools,
3 madarsas and 1 Government Inter College (GIC). Overall, the villagers of
Chharba are more enlightened and enterprising in comparison with
neighbouring villages.
Findings in nutshell about Chharba village:
Terrain: semi-hill
Connectivity: Chharba is very well connected with NH-72 through an
8 km long road running through its heart
Population: A population of 14,000 is representative of Uttarakhand
with Mohmeddans (40%), Hindus (57%) including SC, Kurmi, etc. and
Sikhs (3%)
Urbanization: Characteristic rural ethos of Uttarakhand are present
in Chharba; advancing towards urbanization though

PHASE II
(Initiatives, 2008 to present)

6. Education Initiative
Overview of Education Initiative

Being students with technical background, SIIRD members took their first
step with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Education
initiative. Due to less exposure to computers, villagers are very intrigued by
them. The members took this as an opportunity to meet the aspirations of
the villagers as well as to get familiarized with the problems of village and
villagers.

Under SIIRD, 8 initiatives under the Education vertical: Information and
Communication Technology in Education (ICT-E) Entrepreneurship &
Awareness, Library Initiative, Computer Education , and Inspire &
Character Building Initiative, JNV education, Spiritual awareness Initiative,
Girls Education Initiative, ICT-Computer Donation have been undertaken
to improve the basic education system of the targeted village.

All these initiatives stress upon the importance of holistic and
comprehensive development of school children at all levels: Primary,
Secondary and High. Apart from these, other initiatives like Women Health
& Hygiene Awareness, Cycle Donation Initiative, and Awareness &
Sensitization Drive in other colleges have also been undertaken. These
initiatives highlight collaboration amongst government, industry, academia
and society to achieve a common goal, i.e. betterment of school children
and improvement in the education system in the village. Chharba- the
target village (selected after vigorous research of 2 years) in Sahaspur
Block of Dehradun district of state of Uttarakhand is just a medium of
showcasing this development model.

Identification of the Issues:

When it comes to selection of issues, the approach has always been
demand-driven. Needs and aspirations of the villagers are identified and
assessed through surveys and personal informal interaction with the
villagers. A solution integrating the efforts of the stakeholders is thought
through and brainstormed before it is taken up for implementation. Being
student led initiative precaution is taken that student body is not involved
in any direct asset ownership. This helps in saving time and energy
required to be spent in accounting and legal procedures.
Being students with technical background, SIIRD members took their first
step with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiative. Due
to less exposure to 5 computers, villagers are very intrigued by them. The
members took this as an opportunity to meet the aspirations of the
villagers as well as to get familiarized with the problems of village and
villagers.

Challenges in Education:

Study of school environment in Chharba:

Why do the students show low levels of interest in school education? What
tends to suppresstheir capabilities?
The four primary schools in Chharba have children mainly from Below
Poverty Line (BPL) families. Primary School No. 1 has maximum strength of
students, currently 146 with three teachers. Primary School No. 2, 3 and 4
have strength of 39, 42 and 97 respectively and 2-3 teachers. All the
schools have children enrolled in first to fifth standards. Classes are carried
out in open ground. Through extensive surveys and interactions with the
children in the four primary schools of
Chharba, the team identified certain impeding factors such as lack of
healthy and interactive course structure in the schools, lack of qualified
teachers, rigid and demoralizing attitude of teachers, involvement of
children in household chores and as help on the farms, etc.

An Essay approach to identifying problems

10 Things which I dont like about my School and Home
It was the approach adopted by the group to identify the problems being
faced by children and understanding their mentality. The children were
asked to write an essay in Hindi on 10 Things which I dont like about my
School and Home and those who wrote good essays were given prizes.
The essays were read and analyzed to understand the lacunae in
educational environment and for finding suitable approaches to make the
learning process more favorable. Majority of children wrote about lack of
infrastructure in the schools, complaints about
teachers, boring course curriculum, lack of drinking water in the schools,
power shortage problem, lack of proper sitting arrangement, etc.

The team studied many families in the village to understand their approach
towards education. The main occupation in Chharba is agriculture and
families tend to engage the children in farm activities rather than sending
them to schools.
It was found that the school environment was very discouraging and did
not provide any incentive for the students to participate and learn. The
courses taught in the schools are not well structured with more stress on
rote learning rather than on developing an understanding.

Another problem identified was parents reluctance in sending the girl
child to school becauseof traditional mindsets and tendency to marry girls
at young age. The only incentive for school attendance appeared to be the
mid-day meal scheme of the government. Merely developing new learning
strategies and tools will not result in effective learning outcomes as their
might be stronger mitigating factors undermining the efforts. The student
team identified the issues involved in educational environment in the
schools and the factors which suppress the childrens capabilities.
Problems were categorized into two groups according to the approach
required to address them:

1. Introduction of new techniques to make learning system interactive and
effective
2. Utilizing current resources to make the educational environment more
conducive to learning.

The objectives of our various initiatives launched under the Education
vertical are as follows:

ICT Awareness initiative:
Creating awareness of the advantages of IT and ICT in the villages,
Training the trainers of Computer Centres in employment-oriented
courses such as Tally, animation, web-design, hardware/vocational
training in IT etc., depending on the requirements.

Girls Education Initiative:
To train the girls of Chharba in ICT and make them champions so
that they may in turn impart training to other villagers and thus
make this education system sustainable.

Library initiative:
To promote hobbies of different children and encourage them to
read books that are different from their regular courses
To make available: story books, drawing books, learning by pictorial
graphics, general knowledge in School no. 2 and Inter College at
Chharba.

Inspire and Character building initiative:
Inspire was primarily started to focus on all round development of
the school children. Govt. schools in Chharba lack the essential
activities like that of related to Science experiments and sports. So,
Inspire was launched by member- Mr. Rohan Aggarwal to bring
these children closer to science and to enjoy studying science by fun
and play method; also to introduce sports activities that will
encourage the children to come to schools and enjoy school life. It
was not restricted to only science and sports but public speaking,
inculcation of moral values through screening of anecdotes/movies,
games or any creative activity were also promoted that the children
might enjoy doing that makes their learning effective.The kids in the
villages grow up in an environment where at a very young age itself
they are taught to fend for their families. While taking up the adult
responsibilities they also begin to stumble upon the stress that
normally an adult faces. Character Building Initiative introduced by
Nitin Gupta is basically a necessity driven initiative aimed at holistic
development of the village children though pranayama, yoga and
interactive games.

Sensitization and awareness drive
To spread the idea of SIIRD in nearby schools and colleges of
Roorkee and Dehradun
To encourage and motivate the students and faculty to take up
initiative like SIIRD in at least one village in their locality.

Description of the Solution Implemented:

As mentioned in the project overview, being students with technical
background, SIIRD members took their first step with Information and
Communication Technology (ICT)Education Awareness initiative. Due to
less exposure to computers, villagers are very intrigued by them. The
members took this as an opportunity to meet the aspirations of the
villagers as well as to get familiarized with the problems of village and
villagers.

An ICT-E awareness initiative was launched when a seven member team
demonstrated to the villagers the benefits of ICT in Education (ICT-E) at
two primary schools as well as at the residence of the pradhan (Village
head) in July 2008. The team utilized the services of the Janadhar (an e-
Governance project, website- www.uttraportal.co.in) van equipped with
computers and VSAT for this purpose. They were able to reach out to
about 220 villagers. However, with the village population of nearly 8000 in
about 1400 houses, the team realized that a larger force and a longer stay
were necessary to kindle interest in the project among the villagers. Teams
then stayed at Chharba for four nights and five days, intermingling with the
villagers to know their needs and requirements and also identify
champions (our point of contacts in the village), entrepreneurs and those
who were running computer centres there.
The team succeeded in getting in touch with the villagers geographically,
community wise, age wise, income wise, occupation wise and gender wise,
leaving no community or part of Chharba untouched.
A total of more than 350 man days were spent for this ICT-E Awareness
initiative. During the course of surveys and one-on-one visits by the
student team, which had increased in number from 6 to 25 in October
2008 and then to 60 in August 2009, every member went to the village and
sought to create awareness among the people.

During the initial surveys of the village and interactions with villagers
during the awareness initiative, SIIRD members identified that there were
no computers installed in the primary schools. As a result, there existed the
problem of lack of computer education amongst the school children.
SIIRD team brainstormed to tackle this first problem and SIIRD member
Mr. Falgun Shah contacted Infosys (Mrs. Sudha Mahesh, Executive
Secretary) and through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) were
able to get sixteen computers donated to 4 primary schools of Chharba on
21
st
July 2010. This was the first corporate or industrial collaboration. In
the subsequent action, SIIRD member Mr. Piyush Jalan persuaded IIT
Roorkee Institute Computer Centre and SIIRD was successful in donating
fifteen more computers. These computers were installed on 22
nd
July
2010.

The next challenge was to teach the students basic skills on using
computers in the village schools. To address this, specific computer
modules focusing from basics were prepared by SIIRD student members
and through integration with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, a Government of
India Programme focused on universal access to learning, training was
imparted to the school teachers. On 25
th
September 2010, SIIRD team
obtained approval for integration of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) with the
primary school ICT education initiative from Mrs. Geeta Nautiyal (District
Education Officer). Later, seeing halfhearted attempts by the teachers to
impart computer education, SIIRD members themselves took up the charge
of teaching computers to the school children of Chharba.
Over a period of seven years, a little over 1100 man-days have been spent
by students in Chharba under Education initiative.

The issue of erratic power supply came up soon after the installation of
computers. To deal with this and facilitate uninterrupted use of computers,
Renewable Energy initiative was conceptualized by SIIRD member Mr.
Maninder Pal Singh Thind. This initiative involved collaboration with the
help of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of
India and Gensol consultants Pvt. Ltd. Jawahar Lal National Solar Mission is
a scheme that provided 90% of funding as government subsidy to install
solar panel on government schools of Chharba and remaining 10% of funds
was provided by Gensol Consultant Pvt. Ltd. Unfortunately, we faced few
hassles in installation of the solar panels. The final Detailed Project Reports
and subsidy documents have been submitted to the MNRE but this has got
halted due to excess paper work.
Over the time many initiatives have come up under the education vertical
which was completely demand driven and aimed at all round and inclusive
development of children.

Sarv a Siksha
Abhiyan
IIT Roorkee

Champions
Enterprising
Villagers
Schools
Professors of IIT
Roorkee
Students of IIT
Roorkee

Infosys
Industry Academia
Government Society
Synergistic Framework - Education
Various initiatives taken up by the team under Education vertical are:

Library Initiative:

This initiative was undertaken by SIIRD during October 2012- February
2012. The member recognized need of a library in the Inter College in
Chharba where various books different from the course books like story
books, drawing books, books on general awareness and computers can be
made available. For addressing this issue, SIIRD:

Installed library in Inter college- Chharba by collecting 373 books
from students of ABN School, Roorkee.
Received 150 books from St. Monfort School, Roorkee to setup
library in Junior High School, Chharba.
Presentation of SIIRD`s work was also given to motivate the
students.

All books were put on stamp impression of SIIRD and books were given a
specific serial number. Mr. Lalit, a school teacher, were told how to run
this cataloguing. Cataloguing of library was completed on 11
th
February
2012.

Girls education initiative:
It was conceptualized to train the girls of Chharba in ICT and make them
champions so that they may in turn impart training to other villagers and
thus make this education system sustainable. In this initiative, the focus
was on training the girls of age group 12-15 years.
Training was given by IIT Roorkee girls.
14 Chharba girls were trained in ICT at IIT Roorkee and 20
students were trained at the house of Mr. Baljeet Singh
(Champion) 15th May 2009.
36 students were trained in Primary School no. 3 on 16th May
2009.
5 new girls were trained from Chharba by IITR girls from 8th to
10th August, 2009.
5 girls were trained at Chharba during the monthof January 2010.

Computer education initiative:

Seeing the half-hearted attempts of teachers towards imparting computer
education, a course curriculum aiming at imparting very basic knowledge
of computers was developed. To make the learning interesting, the team
tried to adopt a fun-play method of teaching.
In the process, it was noticed that most of the students (27 in 30) didnt
even knew how to start a computer. But to the teams surprise, they were
acquainted with at least the names of the basic parts like monitor,
keyboard and mouse. The principal of the Junior high School school Mr.
Arvind Saini also encouraged the team and praised its efforts in this
initiative.
Led by Nitin Gupta, the team decided to teach the students through its
own laptops. Ratio of team members and students was not allowed to
exceed 1:10 in order to give personal attention to each student of the
class. Thereby, every single student got an opportunity for hands on
experience on a laptop. Small anecdote were also screened at the end of
each class to make it more interesting.
Thirteen sessions were held in 2013-14 in the Computer education
initiative for 30 students of Class 8 in Junior High School, Chharba.

Inspire Initiative

During the course, the team realized that delivering computer education
was not enough. Children somehow found the monotonous environment
of the school very boring and used to skip classes frequently. To keep
young minds motivated and to bring out their artistic talents, Inspire
initiative was started in January 2013. Under this initiative, various sports
events, drawing and quiz competitions and several science activities were
organized in schools of Chharba which saw huge participation of school
children. These activities, once or twice a month, have led to achieve
higher percentage attendance of students in schools.

The launch of the initiative was on Republic Day through events that were
organized in Inter-College and School No.3. A total of 10 events were
organized in 2013.

Character Building Initiative

Healthy mind resides in a healthy body. Apart from the events under the
Inspire Initiative; SIIRD felt a need of inculcating team spirit, introducing
students to yoga and pranayama and awareness about basic human values
to take a step further in the target of all round development. Character
Building Initiative of SIIRD is again a necessity driven initiative aimed at
holistic development of the village children and recapturing the age old
target of education, i.e. to build a strong character. For this, SIIRD
collaborated with Art of Living Foundation Dehradun on January 30, 2014.

Methodology:
Teachers from Art of Living, Dehradun conducted the sessions of Bal
Chetna Shibir free of cost.
It involved interactive games directed at inculcating and creating
awareness about the basic human values which would encourage
students to be a better social being.
Meditation sessions and Pranayam sessions were held.

Senior member Nitin Gupta contacted Miss Surya Prabha Balachandra
(Teacher, AOL, IIT Roorkee chapter).
Miss Balachandra directed Nitin Gupta to Mr Nitin Jain (Zonal
Teacher Coordinator, AOL, Dehradun).
Mr Nitin Jain connected Nitin Gupta to two teachers of Art of Living,
Dehradun - Mr Rohit Singh and Mrs Nandita Singh.
A 3 day long shivir was then organized at school number 2, Chharba
from January 30, 2014 to February 1, 2014.
Details of Coverage of Target Population:

Chharba has a population of about 8000 and the population lives in three
regions of Upper, Middle and Lower Chharba. Initiatives like Health Camps
and Agriculture Camps were targeted towards the population of entire
village. ICT and Cycle Donation initiatives targeted towards the school
going students of the villages.

Chharba has four government Primary schools situated in three divisions of
the village, namely Lower Chharba, Middle Chharba and Upper Chharba
divided according to villages altitude: Primary School No.1, Primary school
No. 2, Primary School No. 3 and Primary school No. 4. The team SIIRD has
reached out to these schools and worked to understand and enhance their
educational environment. The ICT initiative was launched when a seven
member team demonstrated to the villagers the benefits of ICT at two
primary schools as well as at the residence of the Pradhan (village head) in
July 2008. The team utilized the services of the Janadhar (an e-Governance
project, website- www.uttraportal.co.in) van equipped with computers and
VSAT for this purpose. They were able to reach out to about 220 villagers.
However, with the village population of nearly 8000, the team realized that
a larger force and a longer stay were necessary to kindle interest in the
project among the villagers. Team then stayed at Chharba for four nights
and five days, intermingling with the villagers to know their needs and
requirements and also identify champions, entrepreneurs and those who
were running computer centres there.

In August 2008, three teams equipped with data cards and laptops went
for door to door demonstrations to spread the information regarding the
usage of the computer and internet to the villagers of Chharba and
provided them with an opportunity of hands-on experience.

The team succeeded in getting in touch with the villagers geographically,
community wise, age wise, income wise, occupation wise and gender wise,
leaving no community or part of Chharba untouched. Even today every
new recruit in SIIRD is required to interact with villagers; this is known as
Contact Building Exercise (CBE), followed immediately after recruitments.

Apart of primary schools, Junior High School (Class 6- Class 8) and Inter
college (Class 9- Class 12) in Chharba were also targeted by SIIRD for
various initiatives under Education.

In the Junior High School, a total of 80 students are there (as in May 2014),
while in Inter College, approximately 350 students from Class 9- Class 12
were covered.

The covered population was mostly Muslims and Hindus by religion with
majority of them coming from not so well off families.

School Education initiative No. of students
covered
Primary
schools(4)
Awareness, Computer donation,
Inspire
180
Junior High
School
Computer education, Inspire,
Library
80
Inter college Inspire, Women Health and
Hygiene, Cycle donation, Library
350

The impact generated by individual initiatives has been discussed below:
A. Awareness

Pre-deployment scenario:

The villagers were either ignorant about the computers, or had some
basic awareness of the same, whereas a few young boys went to
distant places to undergo computer training and acquire computer
skills.

Post-deployment scenario:

The awareness session had helped team members of SIIRD build
strong relations with the villagers.
Due to awareness sessions many villagers were motivated to take up
professional courses in computer usage. This impact has not been
measured quantitatively.
The computers and its teaching have motivated the students and the
attendance has improved. The library which was set up in two
primary schools has also benefitted the students.
Overall 31 computers were installed in 4 primary schools. The
students have benefitted from these computers. The Teachers
Training Programme trained the teachers who have imparted the
computer modules to the students. But due to erratic power supply
the impact was less than expected.

B. Computer education initiative

Pre-deployment, students have nil knowledge of computer but they
were aware of some terms like Monitor, CPU and key board.

Post deploymentbenefits:
In the last class on 9th May 2013, after the class 8th students were
promoted to class 9th, the 30 students who studied in class 8th of
Junior High School (now in class 9th of Inter College) were made to
sit with other 67 students of the same age group.Their response to
the basic questions asked by us on computers was overwhelming as
compared to the other 67 students who were not taught by us
Students were also evaluated through a written test of 20 marks
which consisted of questions both based on theory as well as
practical.
Following were the highlights of the test.

The
test was
attended by 18
students.
5
students scored
in excess of 15.
8
students (mostly
girls) got less
than 5 marks.
The
students who got more than 15 were rewarded to encourage
other students.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Marks obtained by students
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

s
t
u
d
e
n
t
s

Marks Distribution
0 to 5 05 to 10 10 to 15 15 to 20

C. Inspire and Character building initiative

Pre-deployment scenario:
Low attendance of students in schools (60-65%), lack of interest in
studies.

Post deployment scenario:

Students participated in the session with full zest and enthusiasm as
the session contained group activities, yoga, songs, moral stories and
an atmosphere of positivity.

By organizing such extra co-curricular activities, the students started
finding their school far less boring and actively participated in such
activities. For instance, the Sports meet, organised by SIIRD saw the
attendance and participation of 78 out of 80 students, which on
normal working days is about 50-60 out of 80. These kinds of
activities when supplemented with regular studies canactually help
in increasing the attendance in government schools which is in fact a
bigger problem than the drop-out rates.

Principal of the school Mr. Arvind Saini also congratulated the team
for the work and said, Ab dekhiyega, kal ke din kam se kam 75
bachche aayenge, i.e. the attendence of students for the rest of
two days would surely shoot to at least 75 out of 80.

The Art of Living Bal Chetna Shibir is a dynamic program that helps
them get them back to their childhood while equipping them with
the right tools to handle their responsibilities and stress in life. With
the help of pranayama and meditation the course helped them get
rid of their negative emotions. Children were opening up to the
individual and group processes, while the teachers were leading
those sessions witnessed their participation ecstatically. The Bal
Chetana Shibir by Art of Living certainly help the children in future,
to be responsible citizens and successful individuals.

Key Learning from Education Initiative:

In the initiative of computer education and JNV where teaching
aspect is involved, the members get to learn the intricacies of the
teaching process. How a student should be allowed to learn; what
will be the best systematic approach to make the students
understand the concept, and the possible reaction on a students
face when he/she does not understand the course material.

From the Inspire and Character Building Initiative, SIIRD can state it
with confidence that if education is supplemented with play and fun
activities, like organizing sports meet or Bal Chetna Shibir like
sessions, the students attend school with enthusiasm, thereby
increasing the attendance ratio which is a major latent problem in
government schools.

Further, rewarding the meritorious students with certificates or
cycles proves to be a major motivating factor for other students to
study effectively and score good marks.

Cost Effectiveness of the Project:

S.
No
Initiative Area Man
Days
Achievements
1 ICT-
Education
Awareness 350 Champions Identified
3/4
th
of village covered
Entrepreneurshi
p
200 3 Information Kiosks
Collaborated with e-Governance
Project of IITR
Primary School
Education for
computer
literacy and
awareness
447 16 Computers from IITR
15 Computers from Infosys
Collaboration with SSA for
Teachers Computer Training
Program
Secondary
School
Computer
education
program
40 30 students of Class 8
th
of School
no. 2 are targeted. The program
involves imparting basic
education to the secondary
school children.
Inspire and
Character
building
Initiative
42 Promoting holistic development
of the children by organizing
event based activities.
3 Girls
Education
ICT Education 86 35 girls trained in IIT Roorkee

Total Man-days in initiatives = 1165
Man-days spent in identifying the village = 54
Total man-days spent = 1219

S.No. Details of Expenditure Funds Utilized
(in Rupees)
1. Total expenditure on travel and food allowances
(1219 Man-days * 430)
5,24,170/-
2. Total expenditure (2006-2014) 5,24,170/-

Note:
1) Rs. 430/- is taken to be the average expenditure for Travelling and Food
Allowance over a period of 8 years.
The expenses mainly pertain to Travelling and Food Allowances of
students. Resultant efforts have facilitated raising of resources from Public
and Private Institutions in cash and kind.

The members who have been associated with this initiative have worked
voluntary with a motive to do something for the society. They did not
worked for any credits or recognitions. Their efforts and time spent during
the whole span of this initiative cannot be quantified.
SIIRD-Education initiative has proved that with the sincere efforts of the
students, it is possible to envision huge tasks with only a meager source
of funding. This initiative has been able to survive over a period of six years
now and only INR 5,24,170 /- was utilized and that too for the Food and
Travel allowances of the students. These efforts also show that no barrier
such as monetary could stop from achieving the vision if worked whole-
heartedly.

Future Road Map of the Project:

Development is a continuous phenomenon. SIIRD Education Initiative
thrives until there are no addressable issues in the village.
The Computer education Initiative is planned to be continued in future as
overall it was a successful initiative. However there are certain points
which the team can add to make this initiative more effective.
Girls need to be given special attention as their motivation level is quite
low.
The team will give the students certain tasks which they can complete on
their school computer during weekdays.
The course content will be made more entertaining by organizing events
such as poster making competition through MS word that will enhance
their interest.

An initiative would be taken up to provide coaching to the children of Class
5 and Class 8 for Jawahar Navodaya Vidalaya Selection Test.There are 12
Navodya Vidyalaya residential schools in Uttarakhand State, which are
affiliated to CBSE, helping needy students of Uttarakhand to get quality
education almost free of cost. Navodaya Vidyalayas provides Residential &
Co-educational Vidyalayas (Schools) providing quality education to rural
talented children in Uttarakhand and other states of India. Clearing this
exam (JNVST) assures free education to the student till 12th standard in
the best government schools of the country which impart quality
education.

In Inspire and Character building initiative, SIIRD will join hands with
organisations like Brahmakumari to organize spiritual upliftment sessions
for the children.

As there is a dearth of sports equipment at schools in Chharba. So Institute
Sports Council of IIT Roorkee will be contacted to donate the unused sports
equipments which they condemn each year like tennis balls, basket balls,
rackets, and footballs.

As a part of general awareness, school children will also be made aware of
various government schemes and scholarships which are unknown to
many; but can prove highly beneficial for the students as well as their
parents.

An initiative based on Career Counselling will also be taken up, linking the
students of Chharba with the professionals in fields like army, engineering,
navy, Public Services, police, medical, etc. Children are generally not aware
about the possible career options and different good colleges in which they
can take up courses after completing Higher Secondary education.

There is also a lack in tution facilities in Chharba. Children often find it
difficult to understand the concepts of subjects like Science well enough
because of not so good quality of teaching at schools. SIIRD will also try to
establish a Knowledge Centre at Chharba which provides access to quality
education through multimedia contents and video calls based tuition
classes. This will create a significant impact in the learning outcome of the
students from government schools.

The group will continue with its initiatives of providing quality education,
training teachers and helping children to develop their minds towards
bright future. Along with it, SIIRD will also work towards developing new
initiatives and frameworks to solve the demand driven problems. Such
student groups should be encouraged in all the institutions of the country
to target the villages in proximity to their institution for their development
using synergistic approach. The initiatives taken up by the group will be
replicated in other villages of India. It is our endeavour to create a network
among all these groups in all the leading institutions of the country.

Day by Day Progress Table of Computer education Initiative
Phase 1: (Spring Semester 2013)
Date of
visit
Members visited Topics taught
2 Feb
2013
1. Prakhar Gupta
2. Rajesh Kumar
3. Rashika
Introduction and importance of
computers;
Mouse and Keyboard handling
9 Feb
2013
1. Nitin Gupta
2. Rajesh Kumar
3. Dimple
Mouse and Keyboard handling;
Word pad + Paint
16 Feb
2013
1. Rajesh Kumar
2. Dimple
3. Rashika
Basic operations like cut, copy
paste;
Files and Folders
9 Mar
2013
1. Shashank Raj
2. Anchal Chandra
Gupta
3. Irfan Ahmad
Functions of left and right button in
mouse.
Introduction to notepad.
Features of paint writing text,
making shapes, filling colors and
basic idea of how to implement the
features.
How to close, minimize, resize a
window.
General explanation of the
Terminology like operating system ,
password , software , icon ,
wallpaper , folder , file .
Application and basic uses of
computers or laptops.

9May
2013
1. Nitin Gupta
2. Adarsh Goyal
3. Rutuja
Viregaonkar
Introducing the children to basic
terminologies of computers and
asking questions from the previous
taught material.

Phase 2: (Autumn Semester 2013)
Date Members Topics Discussed
27 July
2013
1. Priyanka Arora
2. Rajesh Kumar
3. Shashank Raj
4. Swati Chaturvedi

1. Keyboard: Uses of different keys
2. Notepad
3. Folder, Locate Folder, Copy, Paste,
Undo, Redo

10 Aug
2013
1. Prabhjot Kaur
2. Rajesh Kumar
3. Swati Chaturvedi

1. Paint
2. MS word (Intro)

17 Aug
2013
1. Priyanka Arora
2. Rajesh Kumar
3. Swati
Chaturvedi.

1. Techniques and style of writng.
2. Formatting font.
3. Shortcut keys

24 Aug
2013
1. Harshdeep Singh
2. Prabhjot Kaur
3. Shashank Raj
1. Use of Clipart in MS Word
2. Use of different menu in the Menu
Bar
3. How to insert different pictures,
table, chart in Word
31 Aug
2013
1. Rashika Ramola
2. Shashank Raj

1. Demonstration of various ports.
2. Connecting a projector.

14 Sept
2013
1. Ashok Paliwal
2. Prakhar Gupta
3. Shashank Raj
1. A written test was conducted
2. Revision of previous concepts.
28 Sept
2013

1. Chandra Mauli
Awasthi
2. Irfan Ahmad
3. Rajesh Kumar
4. Shashank Raj

1. The test paper was discussed.
2. Prizes were distributed.
3. Introduction to Internet

12 Oct
2013
1. Apurwa Sarwajit
2. Prabhjot Kaur
3. Rohit jain

1. Internet applications
2. Movie Screening

Event details under Inspire Initiative:

Event# Date Event School
targete
d
Members
involved
1 26 Jan
2013
Drawing
Competition
Primary
school
Priyanshu,
Prakhar, Dimple,
Akash
2 26 Jan
2013
Movie screening +
quiz on Indian
freedom struggle
Inter college Vipul, Ashok, Irfan,
Prabhjot
3 2 Feb 2013 Balloon car
competition
Junior High
school
Kajal Mittal,
Shashank Raj
4 9 Feb 2013 Depicting feelings
using pictures
Inter college Nikhil Joshi,
Dipesh Gugnani,
Prabhjot Kaur
5 16 Feb
2013
Toy telephone using
paper cups and
thread
Primary
school
Mudit Singh,
Avinash Yadav
6 9 Mar 2013 Making a rocket
using balloon and
straws
Junior High
School
Akash Garg,
Avinash Yadav
7 3 Aug 2013 Periscope making Inter college Akash Garg,
Anchal Chandra
Gupta,
Ashok Paliwal
8 24 Aug
2013
Sound and Laws of
Motion
Inter College Anchal Chandra
Gupta,
Rashika Ramola
9 31 Aug
2013
Pin hole camera Inter college Dimple Singhania,
Prakhar Gupta
10 12 Oct
2013
Spot Writing
Competition
Junior high
school
Rutuja, Priyanka
Arora, Rohit Jain,
Swati Chaturvedi

Snapshots of Education Initiative:

7. Health Initiative

A large portion of the population of rural India lives below the poverty line.
For people living below poverty line, an illness not only represents a
permanent threat to their income earning capacity, in many cases it could
result in the family falling into a debt trap. When the need to get the
treatment arises for poor families they often ignore it because of lack of
resources, fearing wage loss, or wait till the last moment when its too late.
Even if they do decide to get the desired health care it consumes their
savings, forces them to sell their assets and property or cut other
important spending like childrens education. Alternatively they have to
take on huge debts. Ignoring the treatment may lead to unnecessary
suffering and death while selling property or taking debts may end a
familys hope of ever escaping poverty.
Challenges in Health Initiative:

Health initiative was started with an aim of organizing a series of health
camps. Organizing a health camp is itself a challenge. The team requires
well qualified and appropriate doctors to diagnose the health related
problems. Moreover, villagers were to be given free medicines as per the
prescription.

Keeping this background in mind, initiative leader PrateekMantri
approached CMO, IIT Roorkee and CMO, Roorkee several times and asked
for their support by providing medicines and doctors for the camp. He also
contacted various institutions like AIIMS, Doon Hospital of Dehradun, but
failed. Each time the proposal was rejected considering the team as
undergraduates who lacked the necessary experience of organizing such
large events.

Finally, Dr. Kishore Arya, General Secretary, Resident Doctors
Association of Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi accepted the
proposal and provided a team of 8 doctors required for organizing the
first health camp. The medicines were provided by Dr. MeenuRawat,
CMO, Dehradun after persuading her many times.

Lack of funding for the health camps:

In the initial phase of the Project (2006-2011) the funds for SIIRD were
received from the project National Competitiveness in Knowledge
Economy awarded to IIT Roorkee by Department of Information
Technology, Government of India. After 2011, students have been
presenting the project in competitions and are using the award money as a
source of funds.

At the time of fourth health camp, SIIRD team lacked in funding the
logistics and money required for the publicity of the camp. Therefore, the
team members directed their efforts towards raising funds for the health
camp. They systematically approached various banks, government bodies
and medical institutions with a proposal of funding the health camp during
the period of March, 2013 to August, 2013.

At last, on September 16, 2013, Dr. RajanArora, State Nodal Officer, RSBY
Uttarakhand supported the team by funding the health camp in which
members promoted the RSBY scheme in the village.

Objectives of Health Initiative:

As mentioned already that the selections of issues have always been
demand-driven, Health initiative was also initiated after rigorous surveys
which highlighted the problems of lack of clinical services and hospital
facilities in the village. Women neglected hygienic menstrual practices,
problem of mal-nutrition among children and tobacco chewing among the
youth is widely prevalent in the village.

To make people aware about common diseases and other health
related issues and how they can lead a healthy life.

Enhancing the access of primary health care to the poor and
extending the reach of clinical services to the people living in the
village.

Enhancing the status of women and girls by promoting female
hygienic management in the village.

To facilitate the working of government towards improving health
facilities in rural India and to coordinate among various departments
and bodies of Government.
A. Health Camps

A survey regarding the general health issues of Chharba was conducted
on July 31, 2009 and August 14, 2009.

Analysis of the survey showed that the majority of the diseases prevalent
in the village were related to skin and eyes. One important result of the
survey was that the poor financial conditions of majority of villagers dont
allow them to buy medicines. The existing clinical service in Sahaspur was
quite far for the villagers to travel by foot.

With this analysis it was decided to organize a series of health camps for
the village of Chharba and nearby areas. The health camps required well
qualified and appropriate doctors to diagnose the ailments majorly related
to skin and eyes. Moreover, as the poor could not afford the cost of
medicines, it was decided that medicines should be given free of cost in
the camps.

Requirement of doctors for the camp

For the requirement of doctors, rather than going for health care facilities
from the hospitals we decided to integrate students with us as it would be
the best way to sensitize students with the rural development.

The team approached several institutions like AIIMS (New Delhi), Doon
Hospital (Dehradun) and DoonMahila Hospital (Dehradun) and Lady
Hardinge Medical College (New Delhi).
After subsequent talks with Dr. Kishore Arya, General Secretory, Resident
Doctors Association, Lady Hardinge Medical College in September, 2010 it
was decided that a health camp be organized on October 2, 2010.

Students of two major institutes Lady Hardinge Medical College and IIT
Roorkee came together for the noble cause. This integrated academia with
society.

Requirements of medicines

Initiative Leader, PrateekMantri met Prof. Vinay Kumar Nangia and asked
him if we could purchase medicines for the camp through the Knowledge
economy project. Prof. Nangia appreciated the idea but motivated him to
integrate the existing government services in that matter.

Prateek then approached CMO, IIT Roorkee on suggestion of professor
Nangia and asked him to support SIIRD by providing medicines for the
camp. CMO explained him that the medicines with him were only meant
for the students of IIT Roorkee and could not be given.

The health initiative team members then met CMO, Roorkee who
responded in a similar manner realizing that Chharba lies beyond Haridwar
district.

Later, the team met Dr. MeenuRawat, CMO Dehradun several times in the
month of September, 2010 and persuaded her to donate medicines.
Medicines worth more than 1.4 lacs were received which were
subsequently used in other health camps also with a prior check of expiry
dates.

Beginning of Health Camp Series

1. Health Camp-1

We organized our first health camp in collaboration with Lady Hardinge
Medical College, New Delhi and CMO, Dehradun on October 2, 2010
integrating government, academia and society. The team of doctors was
led by Dr. Kishore Arya. It was a ten member team comprising specialists in
dermatology, gynecology, radiology and ophthalmology. Total 387 patients
were given treatment and medicines in the camp.

CMO, Dehradun on request of SIIRD members directed Dr. Viraj Shah, CMS,
Sahaspur to continue giving the treatment free of cost in Government
hospital of Sahaspur for the patients who were prescribed medicines
during the camp.

2. Health Camp-2

For the next camp of the health camp series, the team members contacted
Mr. Piyush Singh, Programme Manager of NRHM in mid-March 2011. He
connected them to Dr. SarojNaithani, the then State Nodal Officer,RSBY
Uttarakhand.

A letter of collaboration for the second health camp was signed by Mr.
Piyush Singh on March 21, 2011. NRHM provided the team with the
doctors and medicines. RSBY registration centers were opened during the
camp where villagers belonging to BPL category were given smart cards
under the national scheme of health insurance.
In this health camp we integrated with us the

National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)
RashtriyaSwasthyaBimaYojna (RSBY)
Uttarakhand Health and Family Welfare Society
Directorate General of Health, Medicine and Family Welfare,
Uttarakhand

The camp was organized on March 27, 2011 in which 286 patients were
treated and given free medicines and 250 villagers registered for RSBY
scheme. The team of doctors was led by Dr. S.D. Uniyal. The day was also
being observed as Polio Ravivar therefore CMS Sahaspur provided us a
team of four nurses to assist the doctors in giving polio drops to the infants
of the village.

3. Health Camp-3

For the third health camp the team approached Directorate of AYUSH. The
Directorate agreed to provide ayurvedic medicines and doctors after
appreciating our past works. The letter of collaboration was signed on
September 15, 2011.

The third health camp was organized on September 21, 2011 in
collaboration with the Directorate of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani,
Sidhha and Homeopathy). The directorate provided us with doctors and
medicines required for the camp. A record 393 patients were given
treatment and free medicines. The team of doctors was led by the then
District Ayurveda Officer, Dr. Sita Ram Kapoor.

Requirement of funding for logistics and publicity

After this the health initiative suffered a gap. The team lacked at this point
of time the necessary funding for logistics and publicity of the camp. They
systematically approached various banks and hospitals for raising funds for
health camp.

During the period of April 2013 to August 2013 the health initiative team
visited various banks, cooperatives and hospitals like PNB bank, Max
Hospital and Himalayan Hospital Trust, IFFCO with the proposal to fund the
health camp for the requirement of logistics. But to our disappointment, it
was finally decided to organize the health camp from the prize money
received by the SIIRD team by winning the HCT-Wharton tournament.

Fortunately, on Sept 16, 2013 team members Adarsh and Priyanka met Dr.
RajanArora, State Nodal Officer, RSBY Uttarakhand. He appreciated the
efforts of students and agreed to fund the camp to promote RSBY scheme.
Thus SIIRD team received the fund of Rs 35,000 at a crucial time just before
the camp.

4. Health Camp-4

On Sept 5, 2013 initiative leader Adarsh and Ashok met the Directorate of
AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy). The Director, Dr.
Devendra Sharma approved the proposal and provided the team with
doctors and ayurvedic medicines required for the camp to be held in the
last week of the month.

On September 22, 2013 the fourth health camp was organized in
collaboration with
National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)
Directorate of AYUSH
Total 366 patients registered for the camp and were given treatment.
Team of doctors was led by Dr. N. S. Lingwal, District Ayurveda Officer,
Dehradun. RSBY provided the necessary funding.


Addressing the objective of spreading awareness about the major health
related schemes, Health Initiative of SIIRD promoted an important national
scheme for health insurance through its camps. The scheme
RashtriyaSwasthyaBimaYojna or RSBY has been launched by the Ministry
of Labor and Employment, Government of India to provide health
insurance coverage for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. The objective of
RSBY is to provide protection to BPL households from financial liabilities
arising out of health shocks that involve hospitalization.

Beneficiaries under RSBY are entitled to hospitalization coverage up to Rs.
30,000/- for most diseases that require hospitalization. Government has
even fixed package rates for the hospitals for a large number of
interventions. Coverage extends to five members of the family which
includes the head of the household, spouse and up to three dependents.
They are provided with smart cards which contains the biometric
information of all five members.

Minimizing Corruption

The pillars on which the scheme stands i.e. CASHLESS, PAPERLESS and
PORTABLE are a solution to major implementation failure due to
corruption and lack of coordination among the government bodies for the
various schemes launched by GOI.

A large number of people registered for RSBY scheme in the camps
organized in collaboration with RSBY and they were provided with RSBY
smart cards. This fulfilled another objective of SIIRD-health initiative to
minimize the possibility of corruption by the voluntary efforts of the
students.

B. Workshops

Another survey was conducted on Aug 15, 2013 which revealed the lack
of awareness about female health and sanitation issues among the
adolescent girls. Most adolescent girls seek information from their peers
who do not know much better. Lack of appropriate and adequate sanitary
facilities prevents girls from attending colleges and schools.

Feminine hygiene is still a neglected area, and there is very little openness
about bodily hygiene among women. The existing clinical services in village
have no association of significant level with the health problems of rural
women. Mothers and teachers hesitate to discuss about women menstrual
hygiene with the adolescent girls. In rural areas the usage of sanitary
napkins is still thought to be luxury and not needed for good health. There
is a culture of silence about sanitation and MHM and hence there is an
urgent need to address these important issues.

To inculcate the values of women health, menstrual hygienic management
and sanitation among the rural adolescent girls and women, we organized
our first workshop on May 14, 2013 integrating Society and Academia.

The girls team of SIIRD Health initiative presented a power point
presentation over women health and hygiene followed by personal
interactive sessions. The workshop targeted around girls and women in
rural areas and was designed to teach them about the health problems,
emphasizing preventive measures and covering topics concerning health
and hygiene of women.
As goodies, sanitary pads were distributed to encourage better hygienic
practices at home.

Similarly, another workshop was conducted on April 5, 2014.This
workshop saw the participation of Dr. ShushmaRawat, Senior Doctor
associated with Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH)-
Programme of NRHM, who interacted personally with the girls and
attended their problems. Thus the workshop integrated the efforts of
government and linked the women with the experts to satisfy their queries
without hesitation.


were targeted towards the population of entire village. People within 10
kms of radius including villages of Herbetpur, Redapur, Sahaspur and
Vikasnagaralso attended the camps. These form the entire population of
12592 out of which 6817 are males and 5775 are females. No hospital
facility is available nearby. The team also targeted the school children of
Academia
Collaboration with Lady
Harding Medical College
Contact person: Kishore Arya,
Resident Doctors' Assosiation,
LHMC
Students of SIIRD
Government
Collaboration with NRHM ,
RSBY, ARSH and UKHFWS
Dr. Meenu Rawat, CMO,
Dehradun and Shashpur who
provided medicines and
medical instruments
Shri Devendra Sharma,
Directorate General of AYUSH
Nodal Maternity Officer
(NMO), Mrs. Parvarti Kukrati
Dr. Rajan Arora, State Nodal
Officer
Society
ASHA workersand students of
Chharba identified by SIIRD
members
Mrs. Sunita Rawat, Principal
Anunaad Public School who
supported us with
establishing important
contacts with the government
bodies
Pradhan Romi Ram Ji, Lila
Singh Ji, Rakesh Singh Ji
Synergistic Framework - Health
the village Chharba. About 300 students of 3 major schools were targeted
through camps.

Health Initiative:

Health Camp 1: Organized on October 2, 2010, a record
number of 387 patients were given treatment at the camp.
People from a 10 km radius came for the treatment. Such an
overwhelming response motivated SIIRD to organize more
health camps. Doctors came from Lady Hardinge Medical
College, New Delhi and medicines were provided by Dr.
MeenuRawat, the then CMO Dehradun.

Health Camp 2: In the second camp organized on March 27,
2011, 286 patients were given treatment in just 5 hours. This
camp was organized with the association of the State Nodal
Officer, Dehradun of RashtriyaSwasthyaBimaYojna (RSBY) and
medicines and doctors required for the camp were provided
by Directorate of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). RSBY
registrations center was also set up and 250 villagers
registered for RSBY card. They were provided with the smart
cards by May 2011.

Health Camp 3: On September 21, 2011, a team of 8 doctors
comprising members specializing in Ayurvedic medicines and
Naturopathy treated 393 patients. SIIRD team integrated with
Directorate General of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha
and Homeopathy).

Health Camp 4: Organized on September 22, 2013 in
collaboration of RSBY and Directorate of AYUSH, 366 patients
were registered and were given free medicines by the doctors
specializing in the field of Ayurveda. RSBY scheme was once
again promoted through the camps which triggered the
number of card holders.

Till date, more than 1400 patients have been given free treatments for
their ailments under four health camps conducted by SIIRD team.
More than 250 households registered for the RSBY cards in the camps
organized by SIIRD in collaboration with RSBY.

Workshops were targeted for the adolescent girls and women of Chharba.
The team divided themselves into 3 groups of 2 to 3 students each to
organize the workshops in all the three schools of Chharba simultaneously.
Total of over 150 girl students attended the first workshop.

SIIRD collaborated with Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health
(ARSH), a Department within the Directorate of National Rural Health
Mission (NRHM) to organize another workshop.
Dr. SushmaRawat of ARSH herself visited Chharba to address the issue of
poor menstrual hygiene practices by the women of Chharba. The second
workshop targeted more than 200 female population of Chharba
including girls from all major schools of Chharba and women from
households.

Awareness session and drawing competition on the topic Anti-Tobacco
Drive was organized in collaboration with National Tobacco Control
Programme of NRHM, Dehradun in the Inter college of Chharba where the
habit of chewing tobacco was widely prevailing. It sensitized the youth
towards the fatal consequences of chewing tobacco and was encouraged
to quit it. Total of 80 students were present during the event.

Comparison of the pre-deployment scenario and post-deployment
benefits:

Pre-deployment scenario

The villagers lacked in the awareness about various diseases. They
usually ignore the petty diseases like cough and cold which could
take the form of tuberculosis. Poor people could not afford the
medicines and therefore were reluctant to any treatment.
Moreover, the rich people also avoided the treatment due to the
lack of health facilities in nearby areas and they had to spent
considerable amount of time to reach the hospitals.
No action to address the issue of female hygiene was taken by any of
the prominent social workers. The women also had psychological
problems due to this and were hesitant to talk over the issue with
their adolescent daughters. There was a complete neglect over the
use of sanitary napkins.

Post-deployment scenario

Impact through Health Camps:

There is no measure of quantitative aspect of the health camps till
now. But, qualitatively it created the necessary awareness among
the villagers towards their health issues. Villagers now regularly visit
the hospitals even in minor cases. This is because they were
cautioned by the doctors about how fatal their illness could have
become if proper treatments were not taken during the camp.
SIIRD-Health team spread awareness about various schemes of
government and majorly RSBY. 250 villagers registered for the RSBY
during the second health camp. The number now rose to 822 card-
holders of RSBY in Chharba itself covering half the population of
the village.
The government bodies after realizing the need and enthusiasm
among the villagers of Chharba toward the RSBY scheme increased
the number of enabled hospitals for the scheme in the nearby areas
of Chharba. The people could choose between the services of
private and public hospitals.

Impact through workshops:

More than 350 female populations have been already given
presentations over keeping proper menstrual hygiene. This has
affected them very significantly. This is evidenced by the start of the
use of sanitary napkins by many ladies who attended the workshops.
Directly, linking the gynecologist, Dr. SushmaRawat with the
womenhas helped in removing hesitation among them. This was
proved when the women of Chharba openly discussed their queries
with the doctor.

Key Learning from the Project

Particularly, Health Initiative highlighted the need for a proper
organizational structure within the team for implementing any task
with such a huge aim. This was due to the proper organizational
structure that was incorporated by the members that this initiative
has survived for such a long time. This helps in knowledge
management and the data related to previous task done could be
passed on easily to the next batch.

The members learnt to interact with various government officials.
They closely observed the working of IAS officers, CMOs and many
senior officials and were inspired by their working practices. Some of
the contacts have supported the members in their future endeavors.

The team also learned an important skill of Event and Resource
management. During the camp members publicized to cover the
entire village and surrounding villages too. They took care of the
hospitality of the doctors and also well managed the logistics from
the meager funding.

Cost Effectiveness of the Project

1 Health Survey 52 Analyzed major health problems

Health Camps 103 Collaboration with LHMC, NRHM,
RSBY
387 + 286 Patients treated in 2
Health Camps
Collaboration with CMO,
Sahaspur and Dehradun
Health Camp 44 Collaboration with AYUSH
Record 393 patients were treated
and were given ayurvedic
medicines
Health
Awareness
Camp
10 Collaboration with SRC
Dehradun.
Health Camp 35 Collaboration with RSBY and
AYUSH
Awareness about the insurance
schemes
Doctors specialized in ENT, eyes
and dermatology were available
Workshop on
women health
and hygiene
16 Integration of society and
academia.
Targeted group consisted of
school going girls of class 6-12
th
.
Integration with ARSH
(Adolescent Reproductive and
Sexual Health)

Total Man-days in various initiatives = 1830
Total Man-days in Health Initiative = 260
Man-days spent in identifying the village = 54
Total man-days spent = 1884

Details of Expenditure

S.No. Details of Expenditure Funds Utilized
(in Rupees)
(1884 Man-days * 430)
810,120/-
2. Additional expenditures on organizing various
camps
(3 health camps x 35,000/-)
105,000/-
for the health initiative (260 Man-days * 430)
111,800/-

Total expenditure in Health Initiative 216,800/-
Total expenditure in entire SIIRD 981,120/-

Note:
Rs. 430/- is taken to be the average expenditure for Travelling and Food
Allowance over a period of 8 years.
Sources of Funding:

In the initial phase of the Project (2006-2011) the funds for SIIRD
were received from the project National Competitiveness in
Knowledge Economy awarded to IIT Roorkee by Department of
Information Technology, Government of India.
After 2011, students have been presenting the project in
competitions and are using the award money as a source of funds.
SIIRD won fourth spot world-wide in HCT-Wharton Tournament
organized in Abu Dhabi on 9
th
May, 2013. The prize money on was
INR 150,000/- which is currently acting as the source of funds.
The funding for the fourth health camp was covered by the support
of Dr. RajanArora, RSBY Uttarakhand. We received INR 35000/- as
funding for arranging the logistics, publicity of the camps and
hospitality of doctors.

The expenses mainly pertain to Travelling and Food Allowances of
students. Resultant efforts have facilitated in raising the resources from
Public and Private Institutions in cash and kind.

Cost effectiveness of Health Initiative

The 52 members who have been associated with this initiative have
worked voluntary with a motive to do something for the society.
They did not worked for any credits or recognitions. Their efforts and
time spent during the whole span of this initiative cannot be
quantified.
SIIRD-Health initiative has proved that with the sincere efforts of the
students, it is possible to envision huge tasks with only a meager
source of funding. This initiative has been able to survive over a
period of five years now and only INR 216,800 /- was utilized and
that too for the Food and Travel allowances of the students. These
efforts also show that no barrier such as monetary could stop from
achieving the vision if worked whole-heartedly.

Future Road Map of the Project:

Today, due to changing lifestyle of the people of village and slow
urbanization, new health issues have cropped up. Diabetes and problems
of blood pressure are slowing increasing while the problems of eyes and
skin diseases still persist. SIIRD-Health team will continue to organize camp
but will diversify it to address specific diseases.

Maintaining the continuity of the health camps has been a challenge
for the team as it requires funding. To resolve this, SIIRD members
will try to integrate their work with several departments of the
government to diversify health camps in future to target specific
diseases in lieu of bigger health camps which require large funding.
Parallel developments of integration for the above mentioned
diseases have already been made.
AAKAR Innovations is a social enterprise which also makes cheaper
sanitary napkins using raw materials like bamboo, pulp of banana
trees etc. The pads are manufactured by women self-help group and
are also sold by them. The aim of SIIRD will be to spread awareness
towards the use of sanitary pads through various interactive sessions
by collaborating with AAKAR Innovations. The decision to carry the
process of manufacturing will entirely depend upon the willingness
of the women of Chharba.
The team will continue to organize workshops which have created
the much needed awareness for better female hygiene practices.
The team will also conduct rallies in integration with National
Tobacco Control Programme within the village.
The problem of mal-nutrition among the poor children of the village
has struck the eyes of SIIRD members. The team is trying to take
important measures in this regard.
Health team members have integrated with the ASHA workers
several times. They mentioned the need of creating awareness
about several schemes related to maternity by the government. The
team has created a complete document of the existing health
schemes of government in that area after discussing it with CMO,
Dehradun. The team will now look forward to carry out some
programs for better implementation and awareness of those
schemes.

Snapshots of Health Initiative:

8. Renewable Energy Initiative

An initiative of installing Solar panels in the four government primary
schools of Chharba as a solution to the power shortage problem which
hinders the smooth running of computers installed in the schools for the
computer training of teachers and students. 2010 November Ending

School buildings inspected by SIIRD team and sensitized the
community
Letter of Intent, subsidy documents signed by Village Pradhan, Mr.
Rumi Ram Jaswal, building inspected by Gensol Consultants
Engineer.
DPRs (Detailed Project Reports), subsidy documents submitted to
UREDA (Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency)
which were passed to MNRE
Approval of project by MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy)
Release of subsidy by MNRE to UREDA
Construction and commission of Solar Power project

The initiative is integrated with JNNSM (Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar
Mission) and Gensol Consultants Pvt. Ltd, a 360 carbon solution provider
company.

Roof Top 45KW Solar PV power plant will be installed in four Govt.
primary schools worth Rs 56,00,000 (Rs 14,00,0,00 each) of which 90% is
the Govt. subsidy through JNNSM scheme and remaining 10% will be given
by Gensol Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

A 10 KW solar panel system will also be installed in District Education
Office building of Dehradun. This was taken up on the demand of Mrs.
Geeta Nautiyal, District Education Officer.

What has been done so far and further tasks:

School buildings inspected by SIIRD team and sensitized the
community
2011 January last week
Letter of Intent, subsidy documents signed by Village Pradhan, Mr.
Rumi Ram Jaswal, building inspected by GensolConsultants
Engineers
DPRs (Detailed Project Reports), subsidy documents submitted to
UREDA (Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Devbelopment Agency)
which were passed to MNRE
Approval of project by MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy)
Release of subsidy by MNRE to UREDA.
Construction and commission of Solar Power project

Objectives of Renewable Energy Initiative:

To solve the erratic power supply in the primary schools of Chharba
20 KW systems to be installed.
Letter of intent signed, subsidy documents and Detailed Project
Reports (DPRs) submitted at UREDA
Commissioning of project awaits approval from MNRE

Synergistic Framework:

Government
The initiative is integrated
with JNNSM (Jawahar Lal
Nehru National Solar
Mission) which provided
90% of the funding as the
government subsidy.
Industry
Gensol Consultants Pvt. Ltd
provided 10 % of the
funding.

9. Young Champions Program

Background

SIIRD has done lot of work in the village, ranging from providing computers
to primary schools and installing health camps. On March 11, 2011, during
a Panel discussion on rural transformation touching a billion lives, Shri T.
Vijay Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of rural development mentioned to
mentor the village in such a way so that they can themselves bring change
and make system sustainable.

SIIRD brainstormed the problem and came out with YOUNG CHAMPIONS
PROGRAM. Champions are the local people that have helped SIIRD to carry
out work in the village. Young champions are the young students of Inter
College in village Chharba. Students from class 9 to 12 can be categorized
under the young champions.

These students know the village they share same goals as of the students
of SIIRD IITR. They can bring about change. Some very useful qualities of
young champions are :

Least or not corrupted
Enthusiastic and full of vigour.
Devote more time than champions
Youth of India 2020.

The approach

Having brainstormed the strategy with the team members, On April 9,
2011 SIIRD conducted a session with the students of class 9 to 12 of Inter
College, Chharba. The team members of SIIRD included.
Yash Jain, B.tech II Year
Uday Bharadwaj, B.tech I year
Manohar Gupta, B.tech I year
Ankush Agrawal, B.tech I year
Kshitij Awadhiya, B.tech I year

The session was attended by 24 students from the Inter College which
included 9 girls. Mr. Amit Dhiman, Teacher and Librarian also attended
with the students.
A motivating presentation was given by Yash and Uday. They addressed
students regarding the work SIIRD is doing and also what difference can it
make if it includes their participation. The team with Mr. Dhiman explained
the need of sustainability to the students and the need for bodies like us to
step forward to work for the need. The speech also included the incentive
that may be given to the YC team. Some of them may be:

Mentor ship of students of IIT Roorkee for Career guidance and
other important things.
Educational tours to museums and industrial visits.
Special training sessions in collaboration with schools Help in their
academic curriculum
After Identifying the YC team, the SIIRD team gave them their first
assignment
Assignment #1

Aim To learn MS word and prepare an article on the topic what I want
to change in Chharba

Time Deadline April 30, 2011

Description
To learn MS word, the YC team is supposed to collect the books from
the inter college Library set up by SIIRD-IITR. They are supposed to
learn MS word through the books.
The school administration has given a commitment to SIIRD they will
allow the YC team to use the computer room frequently and not as
per the old guidelines of using computers in the school.
They will prepare the article and send us by e-mail through SUNITA
MAM`s internet connection, sunita mam has been notified of this
development in the village and is ready to support the YC team to
achieve its goals.

Assignment #2

Aim To develop a sustainable model for computer education in Chharba
with the help of YCP team.

Description and recent development-
To teach the Computer course material developed by ICT team to
them and also train them on skills of teaching the primary school
students and their classmates.
Two modules have been taught by the ICT members to the YCP
team.
We are providing all the team members with career counselling and
also trying to groom them for their overall development.
To make the library installed in inter college work efficiently and
expand it through them

Repository
This document contains the details of 18 member team of Young
Champions Program (YCP) Initiative of SIIRD, IIT Roorkee. Young
Champions Program aims at replicating SIIRD in the its model village
'Chharba'.
We have targeted students of classes 9th - 12th, Government Inter College,
Chharba as Young Champions.
These students shall help SIIRD to ensure the continuity of its work in the
weekdays. They will also act as a bridge between SIIRD and the villagers.
Over a period of time, these students shall make the rural development
model of SIIRD sustainable and spread in the nearby areas of Chharba.

10. Agriculture Initiative
Agriculture camp #1:
A. Background
The Agriculture initiative team of SIIRD saw the need of
A platform where farmers of Chharba could discuss their problems,
as there is no such forum or group where they can discuss the
technical aspects of agriculture or where they can solve their
problems with the help of experts in that field.
We thus saw the need of organizing a camp which could act as this
platform and provided, if it is carried out regularly, it shall produce
good results.
Following these discussions some objectives were decided which are
mentioned in section B.

B. Objective

To sensitize the local farmer towards the need of involving
techniques and technology within traditional farming practices.
To make them more aware of the kinds of disease or pests that
affects vegetable and seasonal fruits farming.
To provide a platform for the farmers to put forward their doubts
and problems regarding farming practices and to get solutions from
experts in the field.
To synergize the efforts of Gram Pradhan and government bodies
associated with agriculture; thus creating awareness about various
schemes and benefits.
To organize a community meet and create a platform for increased
rural participation in issues that affects them and acts as a channel
of communication and free dialogue amongst themselves.

C. Organizing Team

1. Sunil Pancholi (B. Tech II Year, Dept of Biotechnology, IIT
Roorkee)
2. Sunny Methani (B. Tech II Year, Dept of Chem.
Engg., IIT Roorkee)
3. Chandramauli Awasthi (B. Tech I Year, Dept of Civil Engg.,
IIT Roorkee)
4. Divyen Jain (B. Tech I Year, Dept of Biotech, IIT
Roorkee)
5. Nitin Gupta (B. Tech I Year, Dept of Elect. & Comp.
Engg. , IIT Roorkee)
6. Priyanshu Mani (B. Arch I Year, Dept of Arch. &
Planning, IIT Roorkee)
7. Vikas Ahire (B. Tech I Year, Dept of Earth Sciences, IIT
Roorkee)

D. Detailed Proceedings
15
th
May 2012: Publicity and Survey
Team was divided into two groups; one group was entrusted with
the task of publicity in upper Chharba and the other one in middle
Chharba.
Pamphlets were distributed among the villagers and some were put
up near places witnessing high public gathering like general store,
tea stalls etc.
Door to door survey was carried out during which each home was
visited for publicity. Questions related to banking facilities availed by
the farmers were added on the advice of the branch manager of
Uttaranchal Grameen Bank in Vikas Nagar.

Publicity and survey work is on progress by SIIRD team
members
Night Stay: Students stayed at homes of Rakesh ji and Lila Singh ji.
Discussions were carried out with family members on varied topics
which helped in developing close relationship with the members.

16
th
May 2012
Nitin and Chandramauli went to the meeting of Gram Panchayat held
from about 10:30 am -1:00 PM. After the meeting they made
announcements to the gathering, reminding and inviting them for the
camp. They congratulated the Pradhan on their achievement of
securing the Best Gram Panchayat Award 2012.
Divyen, Vikas and Priyanshu covered lower Chharba and remaining
areas of upper Chharba for publicity and survey.
At around 2:30 pm Sunny and Sunil arrived with projector, screen
and few other types of equipment. By 4:15 pm all arrangements
were done and electronic equipments were tested.
At 4:30 pm, a publicity drive was organized to remind the farmers
about the camp.

Scientist Dr. S. S. Singh reached at 5:30 pm from Krishi Vigyan
Kendra alongwith three team members. The lecture started at 5:40
pm with a gathering of 70 villagers. Branch manager of Uttaranchal
Grameen Bank also arrived for the camp but due to pressing
appointments elsewhere, he could not stay for long. He appreciated
our efforts and was willing for future collaborations.
Villagers showed high interest and asked queries. We provided a
small diary and a pen to all the farmers to note down the discussion.
The lecture ended at 7:00 pm and Dr. S. S. Singh conversed with the
villagers and answered their queries till 7:30 pm.
A short survey was simultaneously carried out within the gathered
villagers while some our members gave vote of thanks to the Gram
Pradhan, team from KVK and others who had helped us. The Gram
SIIRD team members and village Pradhan with Best Chandramauli congratulating the Pradhan and
Gram Panchayat award addressing the villagers.

Pradhan then addressed the gathering and thanked KVK and IIT
Roorkee team for the cumulative effort.
After this villagers were shown an episode of the TV show Satyamev
Jayate for half an hour followed by a discussion on female foeticide.
To our surprise villagers participated enthusiastically in the
discussions. The camp was successfully culminated at 8:45 pm.

Dr. S.S. Singh showing ppt presentation
Dr. S.S. Singh addressing the villagers

Villagers enjoying Satyamev Jayate TV show Villagers
listening to Dr. S.S. Singh
E. Collaborations

1. Uttaranchal Grameen Bank, Vikas Nagar.
2. NABARD, Dehradun.
3. Uttaranchal Seed And Tarai Development Corporation Limited

F. Critical Analysis
Targets Status
Camp The camp was organised successfully with proper arrangements
Collaborations Talks were held with various bodies and we received positive
response for future collaborations
Survey Survey was carried out and data was collected
Awareness Villagers appreciated our efforts and promised to participate
regularly in such camps

The camp started at about 5:40 pm which was forty minutes late and
thus the arrangements should have been more time specific.
The collaborations were arranged for but the time required to
include them all in the camp was not worked out beforehand and
thus some of them could not come in this camp but they promised
for long term collaborations.

G. Suggestions and Opinions of Villagers

Villagers actively participated in the discussions and gave many
suggestions and received satisfactory replies and assurances. Some of
the points raised were-

A follow up evaluation should be carried out by the various
departments to see whether the suggestions given in the camp have
been implemented or not.
Some farmers wanted written or printed material of the information
disseminated in the camp. Dr. S.S. Singh promised to give a printed
document to the village Pradhan which could be later circulated
amongst the villagers.
Increased communication between such departments and villagers
themselves was demanded by them. Farmers also wanted some
seed samples as they were not easily available to them.
H. Logistic and Financial Support
Logistics
Projector, Screen obtained from Dept. Of Management Studies,
IITR, with the consent of mentor Prof V.K. Nangia.
Tent, tables and chairs- were arranged by the Village Pradhan.
Refreshment and drinking water- Everyone was served tea and
drinking water was arranged from nearby sources, drinking water
bottles were also arranged for the guests.

Financial Report
14 May 2012
S.NO. Use of goods and services Cost(Rs)
1. Travelling Charges 350
2. Printing Charges 100
3. Food Charges 120
4. Total expense 570

15-16 May 2012
2. Printing Charges 80
3. Food Charges 250

Total amount given: 500 + 3000 = Rs 3500

I. Outcomes

Around sixty farmers were present many of whom were
interested in attending more such camps if organized in future.
Thus they were sensitized about the need of including technical
inputs in agricultural practices.
x hours were spent in the community exercise
The students participated in the Gram Panchayat meeting which
hopefully helped in building deeper and trustful relationship with
the villagers.
As the camp was completely organized by students, they learnt
good management techniques with a real world experience of
the camp.
Contacts were made with various government bodies such as
Uttarakhand Grameen bank, Uttarakhand Seed and Tarai
Development Corporation Limited, NABARD (National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Development) Uttarakhand.

Agriculture camp #2
H. Organizing Team
8. Siddharth Panwar (B. Tech II Year, Dept of Civil Engg., IIT
Roorkee)
9. Rohan Aggarwal (B. Tech II Year, Dept of Biotechology, IIT
Roorkee)
10. Harshdeep Singh (B. Tech I Year, Dept of Earth Sciences , IIT
Roorkee)
11. Adarsh Goyal (B. Tech I Year, Dept of Earth Sciences, IIT
Roorkee)
12. Ashok Paliwal (B. Tech I Year, Dept ofChemical Engg. , IIT
Roorkee)

I. Detailed Proceedings
16
th
December 2012: Publicity
Meeting with Gram Pradhan was done to confirm the venue and
arrangement of chairs and table.
Team was divided into two groups; one group was entrusted with
the task of publicity in upper and middle Chharba and the other one
in lower Chharba.
Announcements from Temples and Mosques were done.
Door to door survey was carried out during which each home was
visited for publicity.

Publicity in progress by SIIRD team members

17
th
December 2012: Publicity and Camp
Team SIIRD reached Chharba at 10:30 am.
Adarsh went to Mr. Rakeshs house to get chairs. Also, table was
arranged from nearby school.
Siddharth and Harshdeep covered lower Chharba and Rohan and
Ashok covered remaining areas of upper and middle Chharba for
publicity.
At around 12:30 pm all arrangements were done.
At 12:30 pm, a publicity drive was organized to remind the farmers
about the camp.

State Manager, KRIBHCO Uttarakhand reached at 1:15 pm
alongwith four team members. The lecture started at 1:30 pm with a
gathering of more than 70 villagers.
Villagers showed high interest and asked queries. The lecture ended
at2:30 pm and KRIBHCO team conversed with the villagers and
answered their queries.
Thereafter sweets and pamphlets were distributed to the villagers.
Also, 40 free samples of bio-fertilizerswere distributed to the
farmers. State Manager of KRIBHCO then addressed the gathering
and thanked IIT Roorkee team for the cumulative effort.
The camp wassuccessfully culminated at 3:00 pm.

SIIRD team members and KRIBHCO team Disrtibution of pamphlets and sweets to the villagers

State Manager of KRIBHCO addressing villagers Dy.
Manager of KRIBHCO addressing villagers

Scientist from KRIBHCO addressing villagers
Distribution of samples of bio-fertilizers to the farmers
J. Collaborations

Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO), Dehradhun.

K. Critical Analysis
Targets Status
Camp The camp was organised successfully with proper arrangements
Collaborations Talks were held with KRIBHCO and positive response for future
collaborations was received
Awareness Villagers appreciated our efforts and promised to participate
regularly in such camps

The camp started at about 1:30 pm and ended at 3:00 pm.
The collaboration with KRIBHCO was done successfully and it
agreed to do soil testing of about 150 farmers free of cost in the
month of March.

L. Suggestions and Opinions of Villagers

Villagers actively participated in the discussions and gave many
suggestions and received satisfactory replies and assurances. Some of
the points raised were-

A follow up evaluation should be carried out by the various
departments to see whether the suggestions given in the camp have
been implemented or not.
Some farmers wanted soil testing of their farming land and seed
samples.
Increased communication between such departments and villagers
themselves was demanded by them.
H. Logistic and Financial Support
Logistics
Table and chairs- were arranged by the Village Pradhan.
Refreshment and drinking water- KRIBHCO team was served tea
and drinking water was arranged from nearby sources, drinking
water bottles were also arranged for the guests.

Financial Report
16December 2012
2. Food Charges 720

17 December 2012
2. Food Charges 1170

Total amount: 1520 + 2320 = Rs 3840

J. Outcomes

Around seventy farmers were present many of whom were
interested in attending more such camps if organized in future.
Thus they were sensitized about the need of including technical
inputs in agricultural practices.
As the camp was completely organized by students, they learnt
good management techniques with a real world experience of
the camp.
Long term contacts were made with KRIBHCO.

Collaboration with One Prosper International
Proposal
I. Background
In India,100 million small farmers are trapped in a cycle of low
productivity and incomes. Water scarcity is the key challenge to
increasing productivity of small farmers. IDE-India, a New Delhi-
based non-profit organization, has developed an innovative drip
irrigation technology for small farmers, branded as Krishak Bandhu
Farmers Friend or KB Drip. IDE-India has sold 300,000 drip
irrigation kits.
II. OneProsper International
OneProsper International is a Canadian non-profit corporation and
registered charity, established in July 2010. OneProsper is funding a
successful drip irrigation program in three villages of Warangal
district, Andhra Pradesh, India. The Board members of OneProsper
include:
1. Raju Agarwal - Executive Director, Entrepreneur, MBA,
MS.MIS
2. Laurie Simmonds President and CEO of Green Living
Enterprises. Recognized as one of the Top 100 Most
Powerful Women in Canada by WXN.
3. Dr. Arvind Joshi CEO of St. Marys Hospital, Montreal
4. Rohit Bhapkar Partner, McKinsey & Company
5. Praveen Varshney Director of Varshney Capital
OneProsper is focused on improving productivity and incomes of
small farmers.
III. SIIRD IIT Roorkee
Students Initiative for Integrated Rural Development (SIIRD) is a
student body of IIT Roorkee under the direction of Professor Vinay K.
Nangia (Chair Professor, Government of India Knowledge Economy
Project, Head, Department of Management Studies, and Coordinator,
Uttarakhand Development Cell, IIT Roorkee) working in rural
development. SIIRD has established a model village, Chharba in
Dehradun district of the state of Uttarakhand.
IV. Challenges
Although drip irrigation is a proven technology, less than one percent of
small farmers in India have adopted drip irrigation. The key challenges to
the wider adoption of drip irrigation are:
1. Awareness small farmers are not aware of drip irrigation
2. Affordability small farmers are unable to afford the purchase cost
of drip irrigation.
V. Problem Statement
To empower poor small farmers in Chharba village, Uttarakhand to
grow more crops using less water.
VI. Opportunity for OneProsper and SIIRD IIT Roorkee
To accelerate the adoption of drip irrigation by small farmers in Chharba
village, Uttarakhand. We will start with a small pilot project involving
twenty (20) poor small farmers.

To explore feasibility for implementing complementary interventions in
future:
1. Rain Water Harvesting
2. Organic fertilizers and pesticides
3. Polyhouse method of cultivation

VII. Goals
1. Create awareness of drip irrigation among small farmers in
Chharba village
2. Select 20 small farmers with adequate water source based on need
3. Provide small farmers with one acre KB Drip kits on a cost-
sharing basis
4. Build capacity of small farmers in the effective use of drip
irrigation
5. Conduct focus group meetings with small farmers to identify and
mitigate any issues
6. Capture the impact on wellbeing for each small farmer via photos
and three (3) videos across the lifecycle from planting, cultivating
and harvesting.
7. Measure and report the impact with respect to:
a. Water use
b. Production
c. Income
VIII. Stakeholders
Organization Role Contact
Person
Contact Information
OneProsper
International
Funder Raju
Agarwal
[email protected]
Tel. 613-825-1955
SIIRD IIT
Roorkee
Development
Partner
Maninder Pal
Singh Thind
[email protected]
Mob: +91 9557108344

OneProsper is in contact with several researchers to potentially
participate in a joint research project to build capacity of small farmers.
See below list of researchers:
1. Professor Romila Verma -
Romila P. Verma teaches water resources and hydrology in the
department of Geography, University of Toronto and is a Research
Affiliate with the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, Brock
University.
Her fields of specialization are in the integrated watershed management,
climate change impact modeling and environmental education

2. Dr. Sara Thomas doctoral student in Plant Pathology at the
University of Georgia finishing December 2012. Undergraduate
degree from University of Agricultural Sciences GKVK, Bengalooru.
3. Professor Ashish Pandey - IIT Roorkee
Water Resources Development & Management Dept.
Phone:+91-1332-285872 (O);+91-1332-286872 (R)
+91-94120-70399 (Mob.)
Email:[email protected]
http://192.168.121.8/departments/WRT/people/faculty/facthtml/ashisf
wt.htm

IX. Budget
Per Mr. Priyaranjan Behera, Global Easy Water Products, a
subsidiary company of IDE-India, the cost for KB Drip is Rs. 17,829
per acre + cost of transportation to Chharba village, Uttarakhand.
Cost for 20 one acre drip kits = Rs. 356580
Transportation Cost = TBD

Contact Mr. Priyaranjan Behera => [email protected]
Mobile +91-8888899585
Skype: priyabehera

Farmers for Drip Irrigation (One-Prosper International)

a. Name: Ajay
b. Village: Middle Chharba
c. Age: 26
d. Family Members: Five
e. Baseline Income: Farming
f. Landholding Size: 5 Bigha
g. Type of water source: Tubewell
h. Crop: Wheat, Vegetables
a. Name: Dhanprakash
c. Age: 45

a. Name: Harikishore
c. Age: 45
h. Crop: Vegetables

a. Name: Hiranand
c. Age: 55
h. Crop: Sugarcane

a. Name: Jairam
c. Age: 50
d. Family Members: Seven
h. Crop: Maize, Vegetables

a. Name: Kamlesh Devi
b. Village: Upper Chharba
c. Age: 45
d. Family Members: Nine
g. Type of water source: Canal
h. Crop: Food Crops

a. Name: Kashmood
c. Age: 60
d. Family Members: Ten
h. Crop: Maize

a. Name: Manish
c. Age: 22
h. Crop: Wheat

a. Name: Mushtakim
c. Age: 32
d. Family Members: Two
h. Crop: Wheat

a. Name: Rajkumar
c. Age: 48
f. Landholding Size: 3-5 Bigha
h. Crop: Wheat, Pulses

a. Name: Rajpal
c. Age: 32
d. Family Members: Twenty
h. Crop: Sugarcane, Vegetables

a. Name: Reval Singh
c. Age: 75
h. Crop: Wheat, Sugarcane

a. Name: Sandeep Kumar
c. Age: -42
d. Family Members: Seventeen
h. Crop: Wheat

a. Name: Satyaram
c. Age: -58
d. Family Members: Six
h. Crop: Potato, Gourd

a. Name: Suresh Kumar
c. Age: 32
h. Crop: Vegetables

a. Name: Vishal Khare
c. Age: 28

a. Name: Ganga S.Negi
b. Village: Top Upper Chharba
c. Age: 80
h. Crop: Wheat, Maize

a. Name: Prem Singh
c. Age: 65

a. Name: Kishanlal Pathania
c. Age: 35
d. Family Members: Four
f. Landholding Size: 1.5 Bigha

a. Name: Ranjeet Singh
c. Age: 45
d. Family Members: Three

a. Name: Wajeed Ali
c. Age: 30
g. Type of water source: Rainwater

a. Name: Praveen Kumar
c. Age: 33

a. Name: Dashrath Singh
c. Age: 63
d. Family Members: Eleven
g. Type of water source: Rainwater

a. Name: Bhagat Ram(Head of family not in
photo)
c. Age: 85

Total Farmers=25(With Photos)
Contd.

a. Name: Shabbir Mohammad
c. Age: 67
d. Family Members: Eight
e. Baseline Income: Pensioner

Photos of following farmers are not present due to their
unavailability but their data is gathered from their family
members

Photo Unavailable
a. Name: Shamsher Ali
c. Age: 60
d. Family Members: Eight
e. Baseline Income: Pensioner

a. Name: Hussain
c. Age: 50
d. Family Members: Nine
e. Baseline Income: Daily Wages

a. Name: Yakoob
c. Age: 57
h. Crop: Wheat

Photo Unavailable
Photo Unavailable

a. Name: Mushtaf
c. Age: 54
h. Crop: Wheat, Peas

a. Name: Ehshaf
c. Age: 51
h. Crop: Wheat

a. Name: Shamsher
c. Age: 60
d. Family Members: 4
h. Crop: Wheat, Maize,Vegetables

Photo Unavailable
Photo Unavailable
Photo Unavailable

a. Name: Wakil Ahmed
c. Age: 50
d. Family Members: -NA

a. Name: Rahmat Ali
c. Age: 60

a. Name: Jameel
c. Age: 55

Photo Unavailable
Photo Unavailable
Photo Unavailable

Photo Unavailable
a. Name: Ganga Ram
c. Age: 76
d. Family Members: Eleven

a. Name: Rakesh Kumar
c. Age: 41

a. Name: Jai Singh
c. Age: 55

Photo Unavailable
Photo Unavailable

Total Farmers(without photo)=15
a. Name: Nandkishore
c. Age: 50

a. Name: Jagdish Prasad
c. Age: 40

a. Name: Johar Ali
c. Age: 48
h. Crop: Wheat, Maize, Rice

Photo Unavailable
Photo Unavailable
Photo Unavailable
Total Farmers(overall)=40
11. Employability Initiative
In 2009:
Employability initiative was first started by SIIRD members in the year 2009
with the prime objective of developing skills of selected villagers in
Chharba to make them employable in nearby Selaqui Industrial Area. On 24
April 2009 Mr. Rakesh Oberoi, then Chairman of Confederation of Indian
Industries (CII), Uttarakhand State Council, organized a meeting of local
industrialists of Selaqui region with SIIRD students and faculty members.
Dr. Rajat Agrawal and Dr. Vinay Sharma of Department of Management
Studies, IIT Roorkee were also present in this meeting. It was concluded
from the meeting that the local industries had a demand of around 2000
more labourers from Uttarakhand but due to their low skills they could not
employ them. In the subsequent days, after several meetings with the
villagers, 20 youth were selected for this initiative and they were given
training on soft skills at Rishikesh by Mr. Akshay Nagarkar a soft skills
trainer. But this initiative ended up being a failure because out of 15 only 5
youths turned up for the training sessions culminating into employment of
only 2 youths.

It was a lesson learnt by us and with renewed energy in 2014, SIIRD
decided to take up the challenge again with our The Newspaper Bag
initiative.

The idea of Newspaper Bag initiative came to SIIRD members during the
Waste Paper Collection drive of SIIRD. The members of SIIRD had collected
and sold waste paper/newspaper from the hostels of IIT Roorkee in order
to generate funds for repairing and transporting unclaimed cycles of IIT
which were donated to the poor school children of Chharba under the
Cycle Donation Initiative of SIIRD. During this drive the members
wondered if the waste paper could be used for another useful purpose and
there came the idea that paper could be used to make paper bags.

In short Newspaper Bag initiative of Students Initiative for Integrated Rural
Development aims at generating a self-sustainable source of income for
selected women of Chharba by engaging them in making newspaper bags,
thus empowering them. The women selected for this initiative are from
BPL families and dont contribute to the direct income of the family. This
initiative makes them income-earners in the family, thus giving them the
right to decide how to spend the money, and making them self-reliable.

The Newspaper Bag Initiative (2014):
About the Initiative
SIIRDs (Students Initiative for Integrated Rural Development) Newspaper
Bag initiative aims at generating a self-sustainable source of income for
selected women of Chharba by engaging them in making and selling
newspaper bags, thus empowering them. The women selected for this
initiative are from BPL families and dont contribute to the direct income of
the family. This initiative makes them income-earners in the family, thus
giving them the right to decide how to spend the money, and making them
self-reliable.
On May 5, 2014 the initiative became totally sustainable; it can run on its
own without any involvement of SIIRD members. Through this initiative 3
women of Chharba now earn Rs. 2000/- per month by making and selling
newspaper bags. It has the following 5 divisions:
Buyer (Mr. Dinesh Gupta, wholesale distributor in Paonta Sahib)
Source of raddi (Mr. Mohit Jaiswal, newspaper agent in Sahaspur)
Women of Chharba who make these bags.
Transportation (Mr. Kamal Yadav, owns a carriage vehicle in
Sahaspur)
Local organizer in Chharba (Mr. Vicky Chhetri of Gorkha Basti).
After numerous surveys and several field trips, the members could create
such a sustainable arrangement.
How it started?
This initiative was conceptualized when the members of SIIRD were
involved in Waste Paper Collection drive to generate funds for repairing
unclaimed cycles of IIT Roorkee that were further donated to poor school
children of village Chharba. While working in the waste paper collection
drive, members wondered if the waste paper could be used for another
useful purpose or not, and after communicating with some NSS-IITR
members they realized that waste paper can be used for making
newspaper bags. It was the moment when the idea of generating
employment through making and selling of newspaper bags began to take
shape. The further steps in this initiative are mentioned below.
Planning
In order to proceed in this initiative in a planned way, it was decided that
the initiative would be broken into five phases and a time frame was
allotted for each phase:
Phase I: Identification of definite market/demand for newspaper
bags:
1. Gathering information about newspaper bags such as their
types, sizes, distribution and cost.
2. Doing the economics for this initiative to see whether it
would generate income for the villagers and how much it
would be.
Phase II: Selecting needy women in Chharba to make newspaper
bags.
Phase III: Finding a constant source of waste paper near the village.
Phase IV: Checking availability of mode of transportation.
Phase V: Finding a local organizer/entrepreneur in the village:
1. A person who would manage the various tasks involved such
as purchasing waste paper and other raw materials,
transportation, etc.

Market survey
Market survey in Roorkee
The Civil Lines market of Roorkee was surveyed on January 15, 2014 in
which it was found that only pharmacy and some grocery shops use paper
bags, as there is widespread use of polythene bags instead of paper bags. It
was also found that there were several ragpickers in the area who make
these paper bags sometimes in very small quantities and sell it to some
shopkeepers.
Market survey near village Chharba
The market area around village Chharba was surveyed on January 19,
2014. The markets of Chharba, Sahaspur and Selaqui were surveyed
thoroughly and it was found out that provision stores and pharmacy shops
were the main users of newspaper bags. It was also found out that there
was a distribution channel through which these paper bags reached these
provision stores.
Identifying the distribution channel
After the market survey near village Chharba on January 19, 2014, it was
found out that there exists a distribution channel through which paper
bags reach the market. The distribution channel had three layers, which
are:

After the survey it was found out that the district level suppliers (the top
level) of paper bags are in Hanuman Chowk area of Dehradun. On January
24, 2014 the members visited this area and identified two such suppliers
namely, Mr. Naveen Singhal of Singhal Distributors and Mr. Hardeep Singh
of Pack Point Distributors. They both agreed to buy paper bags from us,
and the members learnt a lot of detailed information about the paper
bags.
Paper Bags: Details
The newspaper bags are made in mainly three sizes, and have the
following names in the market:
250 gm size: 500 such bags can be made from 1 kg waste paper.
500 gm size: 200 such bags can be made from 1 kg waste paper.
4 kg size: 100 such bags can be made from 1 kg waste paper.
The table below gives details about the various sizes/types of paper bags:
Size/Type
(the name of the
paper bags is the
common name
used in the
market, it has no
Market
Price per
piece
Market
Price per
kg
Price
given to
makers
per
Rate of
formation
by one
person in
Leads to
monthly
income of
(per
Supplier I (District Level): Supplies paper
bags to large shopkeepers in all the
markets of a district
Large shopkeers (Market
level): Supplies paper bags
to other small shopkeepers
in the same market
Small shopkeepers:
They are the end
users.
relation with the
weight of the bag)
piece one month
(in number
of pieces)
person)
250 gm 7.5 paise Rs.
37.50/-
5 paise 20,000 Rs. 1000/-
500 gm 11.66
paise
Rs.
29.16/-
7.5 paise 20,000 Rs. 1500/-
4 kg 24 paise Rs. 24/- 10 paise 20,000 Rs. 2000/-

Selection of women in Chharba
On January 19, 2014 members met a villager named, Mr. Vicky Chhetri
who agreed to have his wife, Ms. Pinky Chhetri make newspaper bags for
this initiative. Over the course of time, Mr. Chhetri gathered 4 more
women of Gorkha Basti area of Chharba to make newspaper bags for this
initiative.
Pilot
The pilot for this initiative was of approx. one month duration, starting
from February 1, 2014 to February 27, 2014. On February 5, 2014
members met Mr. Anurag Gupta, General Manager of Dainik Jagran and
he agreed to help this social initiative by donating 250 kg of waste paper
from Dainik Jagrans printing office in Selaqui, Dehradun. The 250 kg waste
paper was distributed amongst the 5 women of Gorkha Basti and Mr. Vicky
Chhetri agreed to take up the responsibility of managing things in the
village. During the course of the pilot, newspaper bags of 250 gm size were
sold to the distributors in 3 batches resulting in the sale of newspaper bags
worth Rs. 6000/-. Each villager earned an average income of Rs. 900/- at
the end of the pilot. The following observations were made at the end of
the pilot:
The distributors could not buy paper bags in such large numbers due
to low demand of paper bags in Dehradun.
A new and more reliable supplier/market had to be found.
Three women left the initiative and one joined, because the money
earned was not equivalent to the hard work they had to put up in
making these bags.
It was decided to stop the making of 250 gm size bag, and start the
making of 4kg size bag so that the women get better returns for
their hard work.

Entering into Himachal Pradesh
The members came to know that in 2006 the Government of Himachal
Pradesh had completely banned the use of polythene bags in the state,
thus it was assumed that there would be greater demand of newspaper
bags there. Village Chharba is situated only 20 km from Paonta Sahib
which lies in Himachal Pradesh whereas Dehradun is 30 km from Chharba,
thus supplying in Himachal Pradesh would mean lower cost of
transportation.
On February 27, 2014 members visited Paonta Sahib and after surveying
the market came to know of a wholesale supplier of paper bags, Mr.
Dinesh Gupta who readily agreed to buy paper bags at the same rate. The
first sample batch was sold to him on the same day. In the subsequent
days more newspaper bags were sold to him and a trusted relationship
was developed with the supplier in Paonta Sahib. In the meantime, the
suppliers in Dehradun were also supplied in small quantities so that they
remain as a backup market.
Towards Sustainability
During March 2014, the members kept collecting paper bags from the
women and kept selling them to the supplier. Gradually the quantity of
paper bags made by the women kept increasing and it started becoming
difficult for the members to transport the paper bags to Paonta Sahib.
Moreover a constant source of waste paper had to be found as it was
becoming difficult for the memebrs to get waste paper. Eventually, there
arose a need to make this initiative sustainable, in other words an
arrangement had to be created so that the initiative keeps running without
any involvement of SIIRD members. By the end of March, 2014 members
started working on creating this sustainable arrangement. The task was
divided into 3 sections:
Transportation: The paper bags could not be transported in small
batches in a large vehicle as it would greatly increase the cost of
transportation. Therefore, on April 3, 2014 a transporter named Mr.
Kamal Yadav who owns a MAT vehicle was engaged and it was
decided that paper bags will be sold once in a month and on the
same day waste paper would be purchased and brought to the
selected women.
Constant source of waste paper: Members met a person in
Sahaspur (which is 5 km from Chharba) named Mr. Mohit Jaiswal
who is a newspaper agent and hes left with lots of unsold
newspapers at the end of every month. It was decided to purchase
these unsold newspapers from him for this initiative and on top of
that his shop is situated very close to Chharba thus reducing the cost
of transportation.
Local organizer: Mr. Vicky Chhetri readily agreed to manage this
initiative, he took up the responsibility of purchase of waste paper,
arranging for transport of paper bags to Paonta Sahib and selling
these bags to the supplier there at the decided rates. Because of Mr.
Chhetris good relation with the people in the village community he
was entrusted to do this job. He would also receive a salary of Rs.
300/- per trip to Paonta Sahib.
On May 4, 2014 the members made their last trip for this initiative and
on that day this initiative became totally sustainable, it could run on its
own without the involvement of SIIRD members.

Impact
The impact of this initiative is on two sections:
The women of Chharba: The untapped potential in the women of
Chharba to earn an additional income was tapped through this
initiative. The selected women for this initiative belonged to the BPL
(Below Poverty Line) families, and they were all housewives. They
had a lot of time on their hands in a day which could have been used
for earning additional income for their family, heres where this
initiative came in. Through this initiative they earn Rs. 2000/- every
month and this led to:
1. Net family income: Increase in the net income of the family.
2. Social Standing: The social standing of these women in their
family grew, since they contributed to the family income.
3. Self Respect: They gained respect in their family.
4. Skill development: With time, their skill and expertise on
making newspaper bags grew, and they have now started
making brown Kraft paper bags as well.
Paper bag industry: The paper bag industry benefitted in a small
way. The supplier in Paonta Sahib grew his business and now sells
more paper bags to his customers every month.
Due to SIIRDs intervention, a group of women was formed in Chharba
who could make and sell paper bags together in large numbers, thus
reducing transportation costs. In addition to this, these women were
linked to a definite market and they did not have to go to the market
themselves and sell these bags to several shops that would have
purchased the bags in small numbers, thus saving them a lot of time
that can be used to make more bags and thus more income.

Current Situation & Future Plans
As of today, the initiative is still going on successfully in Chharba and
has also made some progress. The progress made after the exit of SIIRD
is two-fold:
Two more women of Vikasnagar town have joined this initiative thus
showing that this initiative is desirable to the women of Chharba.
The women have moved to making brown Kraft Paper bags, thus
showing a development in their skills as greater skill is required to
make kraft paper bags.
Future Plan
The members will monitor the progress in this initiative for the next six
months, and will cater to any help/need of the women.

Snapshots of Newspaper Bag Initiative

12. Cycle Donation Initiative

Story of Cycle Donation Initiative

Cycle Donation Initiative is one of the demand-driven initiatives of SIIRD. It
started in August 2012 to motivate students of Secondary and Senior
Secondary schools & Inter-college of the village Chharba. In 2009, Young
Champions Program (YCP) was started in these schools by SIIRD to bring
sustainability to all the activities of SIIRD in the village which were to be
taken over by the Young Champions, boys and girls, identified from within
the village schools to replace the IIT Roorkee students working for SIIRD.

In YCP, students based on merit were selected from every class of these
schools and were taught by the team regularly. These selected students
were called Young Champions. Cycle Donation Initiative was started to
donate bicycles to these Young Champions to motivate every student of
these schools to come to school and study regularly. Donation also helped
the recipients of bicycles to reach school easily on time and to improve
their attendance. Unclaimed bicycles of graduating students of IIT Roorkee
were donated to these champions. 35 bicycles have been donated to
meritorious and needy students of Chharba village by now.

Donation was done in 2 phases. In phase-I on 18 May 2013, 10 bicycles
were donated to Inter-college students (classes 9th to 12th) and in phase-II
on 4 October 2013, 25 bicycles were donated to Senior Secondary school
students (classes 6th to 12th) and Inter-college students (classes 9th to
12th). 3
Rather than using funds of SIIRD, costs incurred in this initiative were
generated by an innovative approach of collecting old newspapers and
stationery from willing students of IIT Roorkee and then selling them.

Challenges in Cycle Donation Initiative

Cycle Donation Initiative is a subset of SIIRD. This initiative was first of its
kind in IIT Roorkee and so involved a lot of bureaucratic as well as
implementation challenges at every step. Challenges involved were as
follows:

Convincing all stakeholders- This initiative involved several discussions
with the Chief Wardens and Supervisors of all the hostels, Dean of
Students Welfare (DOSW) of IIT Roorkee to explain the idea and convince
them to get along with this noble and innovative initiative. At a later stage,
students of IIT Roorkee were targeted and convinced to contribute their
old newspapers and stationery to generate funds used for repairing and
transportation of bicycles. Not only this, bicycle repairmen were also
convinced to minimize their profits in repairing in the bicycles to be
donated and contribute in the noble cause.

To deal with Red-tapism- Every step of this initiative involved formalities
and permissions to be taken care of. Proposals need to be presented to Dr.
S. N. Sinha, DOSW, IIT R and to Chief Wardens of all the 11 hostels.
Permissions to move bicycles from all the hostels to a common parking
space, permissions to get them repaired and transport were also to be
taken.

To minimize costs in repairing and transportation of bicycles- A major
part of funds required in this initiative has to be utilized for repairing and
transportation of bicycles. To minimize these costs, extensive market
surveys and quality bargaining was required. Starting from bicycle
Rickshaw owners, to transport bicycles from one hostel to another, to
owners of Pulp and Paper Industries were to be convinced to provide their
services in a way that can reduce the cost of repairing and transporting the
bicycles that have to be donated and generating a sense of contribution in
them for such a noble cause.

Objectives of Cycle Donation Initiative

To motivate students of village schools-

Everyone needs motivation from time to time. Students in village schools
are to be motivated to come to school regularly and study actively. Village
students selected under Young Champions Program (YCP) of SIIRD were
awarded bicycles to motivate each and every student of the village schools.

To help students living far from schools to reach schools on time and with
ease-

Many students in the village Chharba live far away from their schools. Due
to this they were not regular in attending their schools. Less attendance
leads to poor studies and hence poor results. There is no facility of school
bus in the schools of Chharba village. Most of the families of the village are
poor and cannot afford even bicycles. To help theses needy students to
reach school was also one of the objectives of Cycle Donation Initiative.

To develop a sense of contribution for a noble cause among IIT Roorkee
students-
IIT Roorkee has more than 4000 students. Small contributions from such a
large number of students can prove to be of much benefit to students in
rural areas. IIT Roorkee were to be convinced to associate with this
initiative by providing their bicycles for donation or by contributing their
old newspapers and stationery that can be used to generate funds which
can be utilized for repairing and transportation of bicycles to village for
donation.

Description of the Solution Implemented:

To meet the objectives of this initiative, step by step procedure was
followed:

Availability of Bicycles-

11 Hostels (9 Boys & 2 Girls) of IIT Roorkee were targeted to know the
availability of bicycles for donation. Chief Warden, Supervisor and Hostel
Secretary of every hostel were visited by the team to discuss the idea of
this initiative and know the number of bicycles available for donation. As
per the usual procedure, unclaimed bicycles lying in every hostel are
auctioned to the IITR students and then to outsiders. Each cycle was
auctioned in the region of Rs.200-300/-

Procurement of Bicycles-

To put our plan into action some formalities were required to be
completed. A proposal was presented to Dean of Students Welfare
(DOSW), Dr. S. N. Sinha. DOSW asked us to collaborate this initiative with
National Service Scheme (NSS), a body of IIT Roorkee for social welfare.
Mr. Anjan Sill, Faculty Advisor, NSS was then approached with the idea of
this initiative but the discussion was not fruitful and we moved ahead on
our own. The proposal was passed by DOSW. All hostels were asked to
handover the leftover bicycles to SIIRD after auctioning it to the IITR
students. This time no cycles were given to outsiders. Completion of this
kind of officious route took almost a year and by September 2012, team
procured 35 bicycles. They all were parked in Azad Bhawan (hostel) of IIT
Roorkee.

Condition of Bicycles-

Bicycles received by the team from hostels were in bad shape because they
were lying in the hostels for over a year. They needed repair before
donating them to the village students. So the bicycles were shown to
bicycle mechanics/repairmen and Rs.800-1100/- was expected to be the
repairing cost for each bicycle.

Generation of funds-

Money was needed to repair bicycles as well as to transport them from IIT
Roorkee to Chharba. Rather than using the funds of SIIRD, it was thought
to generate the required revenues. In order to generate the required
funds, old newspapers and stationery from willing students of IIT Roorkee
was collected. This was done in two phases:

In phase-I, only one hostel was targeted namely Rajendra Bhawan. After
taking permissions from respective Chief Warden, team went door to door
to collect old newspapers and stationery. Collection was done in the last
week of April 2013 when all students finish their end-term examinations
and are about to vacate their rooms. This period is advantageous because
before vacating rooms, every student needs to get rid of the old papers
and materials not of use to them. Collection was done by 4 members of the
team and a total of about 1.5 tonnes of papers and stationery were
collected. They were sold to a Raddiwala located near IIT Roorkee at
Rs.8/- per kilogram. A total of Rs.12000/- was received by the team.

In phase-II, 4 hostels of IIT Roorkee were targeted namely Ganga Bhawan,
Radhakrishnan Bhawan, Rajendra Bhawan and Rajiv Bhawan. Collection
was done 10 for 6 days starting from September 25, 2013 to September 30,
2013.

Methodology to collect and sell the materials was highly scaled and
improved this time. A total of 2.035 tonnes of old papers and stationery
was collected. In order to sell the collection, a survey was conducted and 3
paper mills were identified in Manglaur town, seven kilometers from
Roorkee, and SIDCUL (State Industrial Development Corporation of
Uttarakhand), close to Haridwar about 18 kilometers from Roorkee,
namely, Aroma Crafts and Tissues Ltd., Uttaranchal Pulp and Paper Ltd.
and Sagar Pulp and Paper Ltd.. The owner of Sagar Pulp and Paper Ltd.
Mr. Raj Kumar Tyagi agreed to buy old newspapers and stationery from
us at a rate of Rs. 12/kilogram.

A sum of Rs.24420/- was received by the team out of which Rs.2320/- was
used to pay the costs incurred in collecting and transporting the old
newspapers and stationery. A total of Rs.22100/- was available from the
funds generated for repair and transportation of bicycles to Chharba village
for donation. Many changes were made in phase-II based on the lessons
learnt from phase-I. These changes were responsible in scaling up the task
and producing improved results. The major differences in phase-I and
phase-II are tabulated below:

S.no In April, 2013 In October, 2013 Advantage gained
1 Sale of waste paper
was done to a
Raddiwala.
Sale of waste paper was
done to a pulp and paper
mill.
50% higher rate of
generation of funds.
2 Collection was done in
large trunks and
suitcases.
Collection was done in
sacks.
No packing/proper
arranging of waste
paper was required
and 2 hrs were saved
each day. No
damage/loss of bags
and suitcases.
3 Only 4 members had
participated.
19 members had
participated.
Less time and labour
was required.
4 Only 1 hostel was
targeted.
4 hostels were targeted. Larger amount of
waste paper collected
(885 kgs more).
5 Waste paper was
transported in small
batches.
All the waste paper was
transported in one go in a
truck
Less labour, time and
cost required.
6 Rs. 8750/- generated. Rs. 24,420 generated A gain of Rs. 15670/-.

Repairing of Bicycles-

After generating funds, next step was to get the bicycles repaired. For this,
a survey was conducted in Civil Lines (market near IIT Roorkee) to know
about the rates of bicycle tyres, tubes and other parts. Bicycle repairmen
inside IIT Roorkee campus were also asked for the same. It was found that
rates offered by IITR campus repairmen were less than the rates quoted by
the outside repairing shops. So bicycle repairman from IIT Roorkee campus
was employed to repair bicycles. Bicycles were transported to the repair
shop in cycle rickshaws

Transportation of Bicycles- Bicycles were transported to Chharba in Magic
Ace. They were taken from Azad Bhawan and donated to selected
students.

Distribution of Bicycles- Since the bicycles to be donated were limited in
number; students from YCP were required to be selected. Selection criteria
used was merit and distance of students residence from school.

In phase-I (May 18, 2013) 10 needy students were selected from Inter-
college (classes 9th to 12th) of Chharba and were donated bicycles by chit
system.

In phase-II (October 4, 2013) 12 needy students were selected from
Secondary school (School No.2) and 13 from Inter-college and were
donated bicycles. A total of 25 bicycles were donated. All the students,
teachers and Principal were present when the bicycles were being donated
to the students.


and Agriculture Camps were targeted towards the population of entire
village. ICT and Cycle Donation initiatives targeted towards the school
going students of the villages. Employability initiative was specifically
targeted towards the identified villagers.

Award to bicycle recipients

Under the banner of Cycle Donation Initiative, 35 bicycles are donated by
now to meritorious and needy students of schools of Chharba village.
Students who received bicycles under this initiative were highly motivated.
The bicycles they received were a reward for their hard work and excellent
performance in their respective classes. Bicycles also helped them to reach
school in time and with ease rather than measuring miles to come to
school.

Motivation for every village student

Chharba has four government schools situated in three divisions of the
village, namely Lower Chharba, Middle Chharba and Upper Chharba
divided according to villages altitude: Primary School, Secondary school,
Senior Secondary school and Inter-college. Donation of bicycles to
meritorious and needy village students not only motivates the recipients
but it spreads a feeling of motivation and inspiration in each and every
student of the village. They are motivated to work hard and study regularly
to get better results. This initiative motivated all 250 students of Chharba
Village to study sincerely so that they can also be rewarded with a bicycle
for their performance.

Feeling of contribution for a noble cause among IIT Roorkee students

In this initiative, unclaimed bicycles of graduating students were used for
donation. Students want to contribute for noble causes and social welfare
but sometimes they do not have a proper direction. This initiative provided
them an opportunity to contribute for a noble cause from their side and
spread a feeling of satisfaction and happiness. The use of unclaimed
bicycles for such a noble cause became a matter of pride for IIT Roorkee
students and they wanted to be a part of this initiative. More than 4000
students of IIT Roorkee were targeted in this initiative to provide an
opportunity for contributing to a noble cause and thus helping in rural
development. Students contributed by donating their bicycles as well as
old newspapers and stationery.

Comparison of the pre-deployment scenario and post deployment
benefits:

Pre-deployment scenario

Unclaimed bicycles of pass-out students are placed in respective hostels of
IIT Roorkee for over a year before they get auctioned. Auctioning is
arranged hostel wise every year and is open to IIT Roorkee students as well
as outsiders. A bicycle is auctioned at the rate of about Rs.200-300/- with
the aim that needy students and others can be benefitted from these
auctions. But outsiders and most of the students purchase bicycles from
these auctions and resell them at higher rates to earn profits. Majority of
students of Chharba village have to travel miles to reach to schools every
day. Many students did not come to schools and the few who come are
also usually late. Due to this poor attendance was observed in the schools.
Less attendance in turn caused irregularity in studies and resulted in poor
performance.

Impact on other groups/organizations:

Inspired from the Cycle Donation Initiative, groups of IIT Roorkee namely
Anushruti, Avantika and National Service Scheme (NSS) started to collect
old newspapers and stationery to generate funds. They seek advice from
Cycle Donation Initiative team members as to how to do the same. Not
only these, IIT Roorkee volunteers of Aam Aadmi Party also seek advice
from Cycle Donation Initiative team and collected old newspapers and
stationery to generate funds for the party.

Key Learning from the Project

Students associated with Cycle Donation Initiative have also learnt
tremendously while working on real life problems and finding
feasible solutions to them. Mobilizing the resources by working
across different sectors and bringing the stakeholders to one
platform to achieve a common goal is an essential life skill in todays
world.

SIIRD students have also motivated other students of IIT Roorkee to
contribute to the society; the example of which can be seen in
generation of funds in which old newspapers contributed by the IIT
Roorkee students were collected and sold.

The members learnt to interact with various government officials.
They closely observed the working of government administrative
officials. Some of the contacts have supported the members in their
future endeavors.

Bumbledom and red tapism involved in administrative procedures
was realized and understood practically.

Since this initiative was first of its kind in IIT Roorkee, every step had
new problems to be solved. Due to this, efficient problem solving
capabilities of members were developed and importance of effective
decision making was understood.

In collecting old newspapers and stationery to generate funds,
conflict from hostel staff was observed. To deal with this conflict
management approach was adopted by the members and this
approach will help them in future endeavors.

Future Roadmap of Cycle Donation Initiative

This initiative is continuing i.e. to donate more bicycles to meritorious and
needy students of Chharba village. In every phase, the initiative will be
scaled up and several innovations are made to produce better results and
cover more number of needy village students. By now, 35 cycles are
donated. The team is working to increase this number. Willing graduating
students will be targeted to donate their bicycles before leaving IIT
Roorkee so that a lot of official and time consuming process of
procurement of bicycles can be reduced. This will also help in procuring
more number of bicycles which can be donated. Also, since the bicycles will
be taken directly from students, they will be in better shape and so the
costs to repair them will be reduced.

The uniqueness of this initiative lies in its adaptability for future challenges
and circumstances. The technique of collecting old newspapers and
stationery from students of IIT Roorkee to generate funds has already been
replicated with proper adaptations by bodies of IIT Roorkee like Anushruti,
Avanti and National Service Scheme as well as by IIT Roorkee volunteers of
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Scaling of this initiative to benefit more number of
needy village students is planned for future. As a part of general
awareness, school children will also be made aware of various government
schemes and scholarships which are unknown to many; but can prove
highly beneficial for the students as well as their parents.

Snapshots of Cycle Donation Initiative

13. Spiritual Awareness Initiative

Abstract
A detailed report on an initiative planned for the spiritual upliftment of
students of Chharba, in collaboration with Brahma Kumaris, World Spiritual
Organization. The initiative is running successfully and is looking forward to
improve the quality of life in Chharba.
Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 About Brahma Kumaris
1.2 About Touch the Light
2. Contact by SIIRD
3. Organizing Team
4. Detailed Proceedings
4.1 1
st
Session
4.2 2
nd
Session
5. Impact
6. The Way Ahead

Introduction
About Brahma Kumaris
The Brahma Kumaris seeks to help individuals re-discover and strengthen
their inherent worth by encouraging and facilitating a process of spiritual
awakening. This leads to an awareness of the importance of thoughts and
feelings as the seeds of actions. The development of virtues and values-
based attitudes creates a practical spirituality which enhances personal
effectiveness in the workplace and in family life.
An understanding of the spiritual context of human existence is offered,
helping to make sense of contemporary issues. Based on the principle that
the roots of change lie within, the university encourages individuals to live
by their highest values, vision and purpose. It holds that this commitment
to self-transformation will create peace and a better world for all.

Objective of Touch the Light:
Adolescents are trapped between childhood and adulthood. Majority enter
adulthood without proper education & life-skills & with poor awareness of
their physical and psychological changes. They are seeking relevant
education, self-confidence, motivation and role models, failing which they
are vulnerable to the hands of anti-social groups. With this aim, the Youth
Wing of the Brahma Kumaris has taken the challenge to nourish these
young saplings with a unique service project for the adolescents called
"TOUCH THE LIGHT"

Contact by SIIRD

Organizing Team
1. 3
rd
year members:
Rutuja Viregaonkar (Dept. Of Biotechnology)
Rajesh Kumar (Dept. Of Mathematics)
2. 2
nd
year members:
Himanshu Sah (Dept. Of Chemical Engg.)
Nikita Agarwal (Dept. Of Electrical Engg.)
Shilpa Garg (Dept. Of Biotechnology)

Members collected background information about Brahma Kumaris and Touch the Light
Workshop
Rutuja and Nikita went to their Roorkee center and talked to Sr. Sonia, faculty of Touch the
Light
She connected them to Sr. Premlata (Zonal Incharge, Brahma Kumaris, Dehradun)
After fulfilling the official formalities, she directed the team to Sr. Savita (Faculty of Touch
the light, Dakpathar) who could conduct the workshop in Chharba.
Detailed Proceedings:
1
st
Session, March 15, 2014:
The first session, organized by Nikita and Shilpa, was held at primary
school, targeting 40 students of class 4
th
and 5
th
.
It started at 10:30 a.m. with the introduction of Brahma Kumaris by
Nikita Agarwal, followed by the motivational song Jaisa sochoge
tum, vaisa ban jaoge.
Students enjoying the song at Primary School, Chharba on March 15, 2014
Students were told about the concept of soul and universal
brotherhood.
Sr. Savita taught students the art of befriending God.
Students sharing their feelings with God at Primary School, Chharba on
March 15, 2014
Moral stories on being obedient, honest and hardworking were
told to boast up students interest.
The session ended at 11:30 a.m. with the same song played by Sr.
Savita.

2
nd
Session, July 26, 2014:
The second session, organized by Himanshu and Nikita, was held at
School no. 2, targeting 60 students of class 6-8
th
.
The session started at 10:00 a.m. with an exercise of chanting
omshanti loudly, to energise the students.
Sr. Savita gave her as well as organizations introduction.
The song Ishwar apne saath hai to darne ki kya baat hai, was
played to increase the confidence level of students.
Students were taught the method of meditation and the way of
inculcating it in their practical life.
As in the previous session, they were told about soul, God and
various moral values.

Amid the session, students were asked to relate their personal
experiences and answer questions to make the session interactive.
Students interacting with their classmates at Primary School, Chharba on
March 15, 2014
Sr. Savita also explained the meaning of omshanti.
The session ended at 11:30 a.m. with the chanting of omshanti,
but with a meaning this time.

Impact
By accompanying young people on a journey to unearth and develop
spiritual potential in an exciting and challenging process, this initiative
provides opportunities through which they learn about their responsibility,
relationships and decision-making with the development of the inner self.
Young minds and hearts are the best places to raise awareness of spiritual
values. Encouraging them to take up the challenge of re-creating their
inner world, it enables them to creatively build empowering social
structures and a better world.
At ground level it helps them focus in their studies, and deal daily life
problems more efficiently.

The Way Ahead
The team will continue to organize such sessions in School no. 2 and
will also expand them to Intercollege.
Brahma Kumaris also work against tobacco consumption. Anti-
Tobacco Campaign can be organized in collaboration with Brahma
Kumaris in future. This would enhance SIIRDs contacts with the
organisation.

14. Financial Literacy Initiative
OBJECTIVES OF THE WORKSHOP
To spread awareness among the villagers regarding various banking
policies that were formed by the RBI to financially include the rural areas
of the country. In most rural areas, people hesitate in availing banking
facilities and keep their money in their houses. In fact in some extreme
cases the villagers are said to bury their money in fields. This session aims
at removing the shackles the villagers have towards using banking facilities
and in the long run to make them financially included.

MEMBERS
From 2
nd
year:
Ashok Paliwal (Department of Chemical Engineering)
Prakhar Gupta (Department of Chemical Engineering)
From 1
st
year:
Hemant Kumar Meena (Department of Civil Engineering)
Himanshu Shah (Department of Chemical Engineering)
Shilpa Garg (Department of Biotechnology)
MEETING WITH CHIEF MANAGER OF PNB DEHRADUN
On March 21 and March 22, 2014, Chief Manager of PNBs (Punjab
National Bank) Dehradun district branch, Mr. Parmesh Kr. Jindal was met
and his help was sought to organize the above mentioned workshop in
Chharba. He connected the members with the branch manager of PNBs
Chharba branch and directed him to help SIIRD in any possible way.
Members met Mr. Ram lal, branch manager of PNBs Chharba branch and
business correspondent of Chharba. He had agreed to come with his
colleagues to Gorkha Basti on March 29, 2014 to conduct the workshop.
PROCEEDINGS:
Hemant Kumar and Himanshu Sah went for the publicity and
arranging the logistics for this session on March 29, 2014 and
stayed there for the night.
They had publicized by distributing pamphlets to about 50
families of Gorkha Basti and Sardaro Ki Basti.
They made the arrangements of chairs and duri with the help
of Mr. Kultar Singh and also hired a mini truck to carry these
logistics.
On March 30, 2014 the logistics were carried to the
Gurudwara and all arrangements were made before 9:30 p.m.
The members then went to every house they had visited the
day before to remind them of the session. Initially very few
people came but gradually on seeing a crowd gathering at the
Gurudwara more people started coming.
At 11:00 a.m. Mr. Ramlal came and started the workshop by
informing the villagers about govt. schemes and financial
inclusion through RBIs policies.
A total of 45 villagers including men and women attended the
session which lasted for 1 hour 20 minutes.
After answering the queries of the villagers the workshop got
over at 12:20 p.m.

Govt. schemes discussed by Mr. Ram lal
Mr. Ram lal told the villagers about recent schemes like Kalyani
scheme, General Credit Card scheme, etc.
Kalyani Scheme: This scheme is for poor women involved in
small trade activities. Bank gives loan at 4% interest rate for
these activities.
General credit card scheme: This card allows them loan up to
Rs.25000 at 12.5 % rate of interest. If continuous transaction
happens then 4% rate of interest is applied.
Polyhouse establishment: The villagers asked him about loan
for polyhouse business. He encouraged the villagers to take up
this business and told them that the loan for it can be issued
upto Rs. 25 lakhs with 12.5% interest rate.
The villagers then enquired about the Education loan for
meritorious students of the village. He told them that the loan
for the same is only given for higher education courses that
lead to jobs like engineering, medical, law etc.
He also informed about the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) issued
from NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development).
All the subsidies provided to the Self Help Group are managed
by NABARD.
For Newspaper Bag initiative, he visited the house of Ms.
Narinder Kaur (villager involved in Newspaper Bag initiative)
and saw the complete process of paper bag formation. She said
she makes 5000 paper bags in a week.
He was very impressed by the work of students of IIT Roorkee
in the Newspaper Bag initiative. He agreed to pay a loan of Rs.
5000 to each villager working in this initiative if they open
their account in the PNBs Chharba branch.
Snapshots

Branch manager of PNB along with Villagers and SIIRD Members
jj

BRANCH MANAGER OF PNB ALONG WITH VILLAGERS AND SIIRD
MEMBERS

women also came out in large numbers to attend the workshop

mr. ram lal addressing the crowd

Villagers listening attentively to mr. ram lal

PHASE III
(Awards,
Awareness &
Sensitization)
15. ACARA Challenge

International Business Plan Competition & Fellowships for Irrigation &
Biogas Initiative:
Three students of our Knowledge Economy Project Team, Cashmira
Pramanik, Maninder Pal Singh and Yash Baheti have been awarded the
Acara Corps Fellowships for 2010. These Fellowships have been awarded
by the Acara Institute which connects individuals and organizations with an
interest in creating sustainable business solutions focused on some of the
large challenges facing the globe. The initial focus of the Acara Institute (AI)
was in providing clean water to slums in India. The Fellowships allow
talented and motivated students involved in the Challenge to continue on
business plans with assistance from Acara, and in turn assist Acara in the
expansion of its other programmes. Acara is dedicated to bringing
together a collection of talents, minds and resources represented by
diverse teams from academia and industry to collaboratively explore
business concepts and implement sustainable solutions, producing the
following outputs:
Business Plans which identify business approaches to address broad
problems
Businesses which are scalable and sustainable.
A new generation of global leaders - by providing students with an
insight into global problems and how to impact change.

Two teams of IITR students working on the Knowledge Economy Project
have reached the finals of the Acara Challenge 2010, together with a few
students of the University of Minnesota. The teams are Bioserv and
myRain.

Irrigation Initiative:
myRain
The team working on myRain comprising of Rudra Rameshwar (PhD
Scholar), Gurdeep Singh and Yash Baheti planned to solve the problems of
scarcity of water for irrigation in Chharba village of Uttarakhand by Drip
Irrigation. Drip Irrigation technology ensures lower strain on the water
table, less money spent on irrigation and higher yield. As finalists in Acara
Challenge 2010, the team was provided with 5,000 USD to cover expenses
in implementing their business plan. Cashmira Pramanik and Yash Baheti
joined the team as Acara Interns in the beginning of Jun. 2010. They
worked in Chharba village during Jun. 2010.

The team started the groundwork by focusing on history of water crisis in
Chharba. During Jun. 2010, Cashmira and Yash explored innovations in Drip
Irrigation technology by visiting various organizations active in water
resource management and conservation viz. Development Alternatives,
Centre for Science and Environment, Water and Power Consultancy
Services (WAPCOS) and International Development Enterprise (IDEI), India.
Through such visits the team gathered all information about the features,
advantages and limitations of various types of drip irrigation and sprinkler
systems, manual pumps and water storage devices. The team is also
communicating with COCA COLA and PEPSI regarding the same.
The team simultaneously conducted meetings at Chharba village for
reanalyzing stance on implementing drip irrigation and rainwater
harvesting and for verifying the demands of villagers and their attitude
towards cooperation and acceptance to new technologies.
Biogas Initiative:
The Bioserv team comprising of Piyush Jalan (leader), Rajveer Singh
Shekhawat, Vipin Verma and Navdeep Agarwal had been adjudged winner
of Acara International Business Plan Challenge 2010 under the category of
Energy. All 4 members were invited to University of Minnesota for
participating in the Acara Summer Institute. Besides, Maninder Singh Thind
joined the team as an Acara Intern in the beginning of Jun. 2010. He
worked in Chharba village during Jun. 2010.
Inspired by the success of biogas in generating power, the team BioServ
from IIT Roorkee and University of Minnesota, plans to revive non-
functional biogas plants in Chharba. During the quarter March June 2010,
the team along with University of Minnesota students visited Chharba and
other villages for conducting surveys to identify needs and attitudes of
villagers in the context of biogas plants.

16. RIET, Abohar students visit to IIT Roorkee

Date: March 11, 2014 Place: Roorkee

Objective:-
To show IIT Roorkee Campus, its life and its facilities to the students
visiting Roorkee from Radiant Institute of Technology (RIET), Abohar.

Members Involved:-
Adarsh Goyal (2
nd
Year) Akash Garg (2
nd
Year)
ApurwaSarwajit (1
st
Year) Ashok Paliwal (2
nd
Year)
Aviral Jain (1
st
Year) HarminderKaur (1
st
Year)
Hemant Kumar Meena (1
st
Year) HimanshuSah (1
st
Year)
Rajesh Kumar (2
nd
Year) RashikaRamola (2
nd
Year)
Shashank Raj (2
nd
Year) ShilpaGarg (1
st
Year)
SiddhantTripathy (1
st
Year)

Proceedings:-
15 students from RIET, Abohar visited IIT Roorkee during 7
th
to 9
th
March,
2014. The names of the students are as follows:
1. Alka 9. Manish
2. Bharti 10. MohinChharba
3. JaganNath 11.Mohit
4. Jagdish 12. Narendra
5. Jyoti 13.NavdeepDhilo
6. Jitendra 14. Nitika
7. Karan Batra 15. Sumit Mishra
8. Kunwar

Day 1, March 7, 2014 (Friday)
Guests from Abohar reached Roorkee at 2:00 pm. Team members
Adarsh and Akash booked an institute traveller the previous day and
went to receive the guests at Roorkee railway station.
Guests rooms were booked beforehand by ApurwaSarwajit and
HarminderKaurin Rajiv bhawan, Rajendra bhawan (for boys) and
Sarojini bhawan (for girls) to accommodate the students.
The traveller dropped the students at their respective bhawans.
Students had their lunch in the bhawans mess.
Prior permissions were taken from the head of Civil, Electrical and
Mechanicaldepartments to show them the laboratory facilities
available in IIT Roorkee.
The team members accompanied the guests to the departments in
groups of 5-6 members along with research scholars from each
department.
Then at 5:00 pm team members showed them the central library.
They were fascinated to see the large collection of books.
The groups then visited LHC and DOMS and had tea and snacks at
Nescafes canteen.
Students then visited sports complex and were fascinated by the
sports facilities available in IIT Roorkee.
Team members UdayBhardwaj and Nitin Gupta motivated the
students and made them aware about the history of IIT Roorkee and
its alumni.
The guests then left for dinner. Arrangements for dinner were made
in their respective hostels. They took dinner and then went to their
rooms.

Day 2, March 8, 2014 (Saturday)
The students got ready by 9:00 am and had breakfast in the mess.
Team members Rajesh and Himanshu were there to accompany
them.
Thereafter, the team members showed them the event-Shrishti
(Annual Art Fest of IIT Roorkee). The students were mesmerized on
seeing the creativity of the students at IIT Roorkee.
They saw the exhibition in photography section, philately section
and electronics section that day.
At 10:30 am students were introduced to Prof. Vinay K. Nangia (P.I.,
SIIRD) at the main building. He along with students from RIET took a
tour of the main building of IIT Roorkee and told interesting facts
about it to the students.
Prof. Nangia told them about how this institution was set up since its
very beginning and how it followed to become an IIT. He wished the
students good luck and left at about 11:00 am.
The students took part in collage making competition organized in
the event-Shrishti.
Then they had their lunch and took some rest.
Team members arranged a trip to Haridwar for the guests. All the
students left for Haridwar at 4:00 pm in a mini-bus arranged for
travelling.
The group first visited the Bharat Mata Mandirand after having
snacks headed towards Har Ki Paudifor the evening aarti.
All the members visited the markets of Haridwar and then headed
back to Roorkee at 8:30 pm.
The members reached Roorkee, took dinner at Hotel Prakash and
then went to their rooms.

Day 3, March 9, 2014 (Sunday)
The guests after taking breakfast went along with SIIRD members to
visit Solani aqueduct. Everyone was amazed to notice the kind of
engineering skills available a century and a half ago.
The students then saw the exhibition of Fine arts section in Hobbies
club.
After spending some time in the club, all the members went back to
the hostels to take lunch.
The return journey to Abohar was scheduled at 4:30 pm, so they
packed their bags.
After having tea, team members Siddhant and Rajesh went to drop
the students to railway station.

Conclusion:-
The students from RIET learnt about a different culture and were
astonished to see the kind of facilities enjoyed by students of IIT
Roorkee. They were motivated to join IITs through GATE
examination.
SIIRD team members got a chance to interact with students from
different educational and cultural background. They also improved
their event management skills.

17. Awards
17.1 HCT Wharton Tournament, Abu Dhabi
Prepared by: Uday Bharadwaj, Former team leader, SIIRD

Report HCT-Wharton Innovation Tournament 2021

( Abu Dhabi, UAE; 8
th
and 9
th
May 2013)

A. Introduction :

The second edition of the HCT-Wharton Innovation Tournament 2021 was held
in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on May 8 & 9, 2013.

This years competition theme revolved around the creation of novel concepts
related to the issue of positive social impact to communities around the globe. This
theme built on the competitions inaugural theme last year of business innovations
and the competition organizers believe that the 2013 competition theme is even
more far-reaching and impactful than the topics discussed in 2012.

In the 2012 competition, organizers received over 100 entries from individuals and
teams from the UAE and MENA region. This year, over 200 entries were received
from the UAE, MENA region, India, Iraq, Pakistan and Europe.

B. EVALUATION CRITERION :

The eleven submissions were scored on a scale of 1-5 (worst to best), on the
following criteria:

Need: How significant is the need identified by the submitter?
Solution: How good is the solution proposed by the submitter?
Novelty: How interesting or novel is the solution?
Implementation: To what extent has the submitter implemented the
innovation and resolved the major uncertainty associated with it?
Overall score: The overall assessment fo the innovation.

Professor Ulrich said the Innovation Tournament was borne out of the concept of
finding a number of raw, or new, opportunities for innovations and then applying
some filters, such as need, solution, and novelty, to ascertain if the proposed
innovation is viable in the future.

He said the six judges were very impressed with the standard of the projects, which
demonstrated some very high skills from many different regions. We had double
the number of entries from last year and the quality of entries has been very high.
Its been a great experience for us, he said.

While HCT Provost Dr. Marshall Drummond said he was very proud of the six HCT
teams to make the finals. The student entries were of very high quality and we are
very proud of our relationship and partnership with Wharton to host this
competition. It is an ideal environment for our students to create and develop
innovative concepts which can help society in different ways, he said.

C. Semi-Finalists

The eleven finalists for the 2013 edition of the Innovation Tournament are:

Entrant Country Project

E-Pharmacy is the concept of an automated
machine with an

electronic interface that a patient could use to
receive medication.

A doctor sends the patients prescription to
the machine, which

would save the information in a server. The
machine would have

access to a cooled supply stock and roll
out medicines on

demand. To collect the medicines, the
patient would use a

medical card to receive the prescription,
which would possess all

of the required information, including the
amount of medicine
Salim Al Melaihi
United Arab
Emirates needed, and duration of the prescription.

The Automated Parking System is a
computerized system that

parks and retrieves vehicles. The idea is to
diminish the surface

area used for parking and instead build
underground levels. To

park, you need to enter the vehicle in a cabin
and the vehicle has

to be turned off. Once the vehicle is in the
cabin, it is delivered to
Aysha Al Rumaithi
United Arab
Emirates its storage, safe from any damages.

Dew Drop is a drum on rolls with a filter inside
it and works

when you pull it. The drum cleans and filters
groundwater and

turns it into safe and clean water ready to be
drink. Pulling the

drum, the wheels will start to go in a circular
motion that filters
Maryam Al Aleeli
United Arab
Emirates water.

The Recycle Bin is designed to make recycling
plastic bottles

fun. The machine includes four slots, and
above each slot are

blue, red, green or yellow lights. When the
light flashes in any

slot, a user has to throw a bottle into it, and
when the person puts

15 bottles into the bin he will receive a
coupon that he can use in
Aisha Al Shehhi
United Arab
Emirates supermarkets, restaurants and toy shops.

A low-tech method of purifying water in a
resource-scarce

environment, relying on concrete canals
distributing water from

wadis, and a sand filtration system. It will
provide clean water for

reservoirs and public baths, while cycling
waste water for
Madina
Salavdiyeva
United Arab
Emirates irrigation purposes.

Blind Navigation is an electronic cane with
a Bluetooth

headphone that will help blind people to
walk alone without

another person to guide them. This
invention works with a

navigation system which knows the places
that its blind user will
Aidah Al Blooshi
United Arab
Emirates visit, and warns if there are risks.

Green Eye is a simple application that
monitors organizations
Ala Khalifeh Jordan
computer usage and office lights. It is
customized according to

every organizations working hours and
holidays, and every

Employees days off, overtime and vacations. It
gives a usage

report, summarizing the total number of hours
in which each

computer was in its active state, while
clearly showing the

violated hours and the permissible ones. It
also states the power

consumption resulted by these hours as well
as its corresponding

carbon dioxide emitted to provide this power.

Madad is a social business powered by an
online platform that

brings technology and a business mindset to
the civil society,

providing strategic planning and most
importantly accessibility to

much needed information to all stakeholders.
Madad identifies

and targets high impact, sustainable
projects and provides a

means for NGOs to promote their projects and
generate funds

needed. In return, Madad solicits regular
reports and media for

updates of the projects progress,
developments, achievements
Sherif Nagui Egypt
and outstanding needs for donation marketing
purposes.

SIIRD is an attempt to develop a
Sustainable Development

Model in a village named CHARBA (Sahaspur
Block, District

Dehradun in Uttarakhand, India). This
model of rural

development is one of a kind and its
uniqueness lies in the

voluntary use of student force for larger good
of the society by
Uday Umakant
Bhardwaj India
integrating the efforts of industry-academia-
government-society.

HOPE is the first mobile application that
facilitates, organizes

and speeds up the process and time spent by
blood requesters and
Amgad Morgan Egypt blood donors.

DiaLife is a diabetes management solution
that is designed to

meet the needs of MENA diabetic patients and
their caregivers.

Using the Internet and interactive tools, it is
made up of three

synergetic components: DiaLife Web,
DiaLife Mobile, and
Amine
Bounoughaz Algeria DiaBox.

D. Winners:
An innovation which connects diabetic patients with caregivers via an interactive,
online community is the winner of the 2013 edition of the HCT-Wharton
Innovation Tournament 2021, held in Abu Dhabi.

The DiaLife concept, from a group of tech-savvy entrepreneurs in Algeria, took
out the first prize of AED 30,000 which, according to team representative Amine
Bounoughaz, will be invested towards developing the product on a MENA-wide
basis. We are really very happy with our win. Its been a great competition and a
fantastic initiative to help innovations in the region, Amine said.

DiaLife representative Amine Bounoughaz shows off the winners cheque for
AED30,000 with Wharton Professor Karl Ulrich and HCT Associate Provost Sultan
Karmostaji.

Mr. Bounoughaz dedicated the win to his family, which saw his grandfather die of
a diabetes-related illness, and his business partner who suffers from diabetes.

The winning concepts incorporates DiaLife Mobile, a mhealth solution that tracks
glucose readings and email them to doctors, as well as a DiaBox, which is a tiny
wireless hardware device that automatically transfers glucose readings from the
glucometer to the smartphone/computer, thereby eliminating the pain of
manually entering data.

The Tournaments 2
nd
prize of AED20,000 went to the Egypt-based Madad
concept which is an online portal assisting the public to decide how and where to
donate funds to charities by providing a gateway for all donations and thereby
supporting organizations and NGOs in their contribution to society. Madads chief
financial officer Sherif Yacoub described how the social service would provide
videos and other information on various projects to aid the public with their
decisions on charitable donations.

Madad representative Sherif Yacoub shows off the 2nd-place winners cheque.

Mr. Yacoub said the prize money would be a great boost for the venture which is
seeking to launch its services this Ramadan. We have been developing this
system for one and a half years and weve come a long way, so this money will
really help us move forward. We know the pain of setting up an NGO and we have
felt the pain of getting something started, so this win will really facilitate what we
want to achieve. Before this, we were looking at going to crowd funding, but now
we wont have to leverage that, he said.

The elated team from HCT Fujairah Womens College took out third prize of
AED15, 000 for their creative entry of a Recycle Bin, which was based on the need
to care for the environment at Khorfakkan. It encourages people to recycle plastic
bottles in return for shopping and gift coupons. Omar Ayyash, Fujairah Womens
College Business faculty mentor said the students were thrilled with the win.

HCT-Fujairah Womens College team members Khawla Mohamed Al-Mur and
Aisha Mohamed Rashid Al Shehhi with their 3rd-place cheque for their concept,
Recycle Bin.

They have a real passion for creativity and innovation and this tournament was a
perfect example of them learning by doing, which we teach as part of the HCT
courses, he said. We are able to show that entrepreneurship is a viable career
option for our students and the Wharton tournament is a great opportunity for
them to learn how to connect with incubators that can start their own
businesses, he said.

Fourth place went to the Student Initiative for Integrated Rural Development
(SIIRD), based in Uttarakhand, India, which uses students volunteer work and
input to help a rural village with different initiatives, such as boosting the local
economy and improved educational opportunities.

SIIRD team member from India, Uday Bhardwaj celebrates 4th place in the
Tournament.

For team member Uday Bhardwaj, who was making his first trip out of India, the
AED10,000 prize was a significant boost to the business model. We were facing
some money problems and this will keep us going for the next 4-5 months and
allow us to sort things out, so we are very happy with the result, he said.

E. Workshop:

Prior to the semi-finals and finals rounds, Professor Ulrich hosted an intensive
workshop yesterday for 50 business executives and HCT faculty, where he
explained the genesis of the Innovation Tournament. In a highly engaging and
interactive session, he also discussed how innovations come about from
considering the needs of society.

Prof. Ulrich explored the concepts of needs push and needs pull when
considering innovations and how an existing need and an existing solution can
combine to create a new innovation. He devised the definition of an innovation
as being a new match between a solution and a need, and a successful
innovation results in the creation of the value.

In looking at the evolution of innovations throughout society, Prof. Ulrich also
considered the impact of internal and external operating structures for a business
or organization, adding: You can all be potential innovators, by making things
better in your organizations.
F. Experiences:

To participate and secure a position in the competition was a wonderful learning
experience. It was my first visit to a country outside India and to be true I was
nervous. The competition was on 9
th
May, 2013 and I had my End Semester Exams
till 8
th
May. The time for preparation was limited and handling things efficiently
has given me a confidence in my time management skills.

I was on my way to Delhi within 45 minutes of completion of my last exam. I took
the flight to Abu Dhabi at 9:30 p.m. It was also my first flight experience, but
unluckily I travelled at night which was not much fun. I reached Abu Dhabi by
11:30 on 8
th
May. The immigration clearances and other formalities were well
handled by the HCT and WHARTON staff. I met Ala Khalifeh, a Professor at
German Jordanian University on my way to the hotel. He was also a participant in
the competition and has an innovative project on Energy Saving. We had a
wonderful chat about the cultural difference between Jordan and India during our
way to the Hotel. I stayed at Dusit Thani hotel and it was one of the finest hotels I
have been in.

The competition was to begin at 8:30 on 9
th
May and I had barely 7 hours to
accomplish many things. I gave the final touches to the presentation and
prepared for the next day presentation. I met another inspiring participant Sherif
Nagui Yacoub from Egypt. He was a MBA student at Wharton School, University of
Pennsylvania and an ex-employee at Booz and Co. We had a wonderful chat in the
pre-conference session. I also met Amine from Algeria; he was also convivial and
versatile and shared interesting experiences about other conferences he has been
in. He was accepted at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and was going
to join it this autumn.

Each participant was given just 10 minutes to describe the idea and convince the
panel of Judges. The judging panel included Professors, Investor, Members of
Incubation Centre and Entrepreneurs. There were members from Silicon Oasis
Founders, Belhoul Investment Office, and Wharton. The presentations and
concepts of other participants were commendable. The judges gave very
constructive suggestions.

I gave a decent presentation and the judges appreciated the concept and the
work done. They questioned about the difference between the model of SIIRD
and other Academia- Industry-Government integration models. I described the
leading role of students in this Synergistic Model. The students being driven by
the learning and national service involved were non corrupt. The involvement of
the students in the model made it a dynamic and quick in responses. It also added
accountability in the model as the academia was working selflessly. The other
question raised was about the model not being a business oriented as the

competition was regarding Business Plans. I agreed to the point and described
how SIIRD is a non-conventional business, where development of a model for
rural development was a major aim. The questioning round was very exhaustive
and they covered many other aspects of the model.

SIIRD secured 4
th
position in the competition and it was a wonderful experience
collecting the award from the Karl Ulrich, Vice Dean of Innovation and the CIBC
Professor of Entrepreneurship and e-Commerce at the Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania and also the author of Innovation Tournaments
(Harvard Business Press, 2009). The participants interacted with the judges and
other Wharton and HCT Professors during the post-conference lunch. I made few
nice friends and we shared interesting stories about our projects during the lunch.
After Lunch I visited Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Emirates Palace, Corniche
Twilight and few malls. I left for airport in the evening, thus culminating my 21
hours of eventful stay at Abu Dhabi.

18. Conferences
18.1 SAnghol Conference
Presentation by SIIRD in International Conference on Rural Development

Venue- Sanghol, Punjab
Date-17-18 Nov.
Statement of Purpose
The conference based on the theme Rural Planning and Development-Indias
Rural Economies in Transition provided a great opportunity to showcase SIIRDs
work and experience in the same area. Our aim was to present the unique
model based upon integration of various stakeholders which drives SIIRD.
Team members involved
Sunil Pancholi, Sushank Kumar, Sunny Methani, Priyanshu Mani
Results
The conference apart from being a source of new ideas also provided an
opportunity to connect with pioneers and experts in this field who presented
their papers there. This helped us in collaborations with organizations related to
our initiatives and also helped us to integrate academicians with our initiatives,
which is one of our purposes. The theme of the conference this year particularly
helped us in our employability initiative.

18.2 ICSD Conference, Chandigarh
About ICSD 2013
The International Conference on Sustainable Development 2013 India was jointly
presented by Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL), Punjab,
India, International Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Law (ICIRL), at
Laurentian University, Centre for Research in Social Justice and Policy (CRSJP)
at Laurentian University, and Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA)
in Canada from December 04-05, 2013 at Chandigarh Judicial Academy,
Chandigarh.
The International Conference on Sustainable Development 2013 India consisted
of four main sessions:
(1) Sustainable Social and Human Development - SSHD
(2) Social Sciences and Humanities - SSH
(3) Human Rights and Good Governance - HRGG
(4) Sustainable Development SD
The conference had following objectives:
to provide an interdisciplinary forum on global sustainable development for
practitioners and academics;
to foster dialogue among various stakeholders, including senior level policy
makers, academics, and practitioners;
to propose multidisciplinary strategies for economic, sociopolitical, cultural, and
institutional changes;
to allow stakeholders to share their experiences and research results about all
aspects of sustainable human and social development;
to discuss the practical challenges encountered in promoting sustainable
development and the solutions adopted; and
to find global partners for future business or research collaborations.
Members
1. Uday Bhardwaj
2. Rashika Ramola
Proceedings :
1. Members took a train to Chandigarh at 6:00 AM on December 05, 2014.
2. They reached Chandigarh Judicial Academy at 11:00 AM and registered for
the event thereafter.
3. Then they had breakfast at a nearby restaurant.
4. While waiting for their slot, they met some people and watched other
presentations.
5. SIIRD had participated under the category Sustainable Social and Human
Development SSHD.
6. The presentation was decent. Judges appreciated SIIRD a lot.
7. After the conference, members attended post-conference closing session.
8. At 6:00 PM they left Chandigarh Judicial Academy to catch their train to
Roorkee.

A session at Auditorium of Chandigarh Judicial Academy

My Experiences: (Rashika Ramolas experience, in first person)
I hadnt attended any conference before so sight of delegates from many countries at one place was
quite overwhelming. It was a very large scale event. 10 parallel sessions were going on altogether. In
spite of being well prepared, I was little nervous. I was fortunate to have Uday Bharwaj standing beside
me. He motivated me a lot. Our presentation was scheduled at 3:20 PM. Till then, we met a few people
of Rajiv Gandhi National Law University. Due to delay in opening the session, our 20 minute time slot
was reduced to 10 minutes. Nevertheless, our presentation was decent. Dr. Mohshin Habib, a Senior
Lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology was very happy to hear about SIIRD. I have forwarded
him our project profile and am in touch with him.

Another glimpse of ICSD -2013
It was an amazing learning experience. From various sustainable models across the globe to way of
presentation and formal dressing sense to representing SIIRD, I learnt a lot especially from Uday
Bhardwaj. When Dr. Mohsin Habib appreciated SIIRD, it was a very proud moment for me. I am thankful
to SIIRD for giving me such an opportunity.

18.3 IIMT Conference, Gurgaon
Participation of SIIRD in
1. Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility and Social
Entrepreneurship
About conference:
PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, New Delhi in association with Institute for
International Management & Technology (IIMT), Gurgaon will host the
Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship 2013
at Radisson Hotel Blu Plaza, New Delhi on 29th November, 2013. The conference
has emerged as a comprehensive event focused on pioneering work in CSR and
Social Entrepreneurship.
The Conference provides a broad platform to bring together corporate honchos,
entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, NGOs to stimulate discussions
on critical research issues and new developments in CSR and Social
Entrepreneurship. Endeavour is to investigate scope for different business models
of CSR, holding serious potential and aim for the creation of new social
enterprises to meet the social goals through committed change.
SIIRDs request to showcase its efforts in the field of rural development and CSR,
has been approved by Mr.VimalBabu (Contact :9911373129
|[email protected]), Conference Convener and Asst. Professor, IIMT).
Other Speakers :
Dr.Bindeshwar Pathak, Padma Bhushan recipient and Founder, Sulabh
International Social Service
Mr.ParulSoni, Executive Director and Practice Leader, Ernst & Young
Mr.Rajive Chawla, President, Faridabad Small Industries Association
Chairman, Integrated Association of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises of
India
Mr. Deepak Jolly, Vice-President, Public Affairs & Communications Coca-
Cola India
Mr. Rahul Pandit, President, The Lemon Tree Hotel Company, New Delhi
Dr.UmashankarVenkatesh, Professor in Marketing, IMI, New Delhi

2. International Conference on Sustainable Development 2013
The International Conference on Sustainable Development 2013 India is jointly
presented by:
Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL), Punjab, India,
International Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Law (ICIRL), at
Laurentian University,
Centre for Research in Social Justice and Policy (CRSJP) at Laurentian
University, and
Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA) in Canada.
Date of conference: 4-5 December 2013
Venue of conference: Chandigarh Judicial Academy, Sector 43-D, Chandigarh,
Punjab, India
SIIRDs request for a presentation of its ground work has been approved by Ms.
Jessica Silvan, Coordinator. Our contact point in India is Assistant Prof Shveta
Dhaliwal, Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law.
One pager by Nitin Gupta| Date: 6
th
November 2013
International Conference on Sustainable Development 2013

The International Conference on Sustainable Development 2013 India is jointly
presented by:
Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL), Punjab, India,
International Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Law (ICIRL), at
Laurentian University,
Centre for Research in Social Justice and Policy (CRSJP) at Laurentian
University, and
Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA) in Canada.
Organized by: Ontario International Development Agency
This conference has the following objectives:
to provide an interdisciplinary forum on global sustainable development for
practitioners and academics;
to foster dialogue among various stakeholders, including senior level policy
makers, academics, and practitioners;
to propose multidisciplinary strategies for economic, socio-political, cultural, and
institutional changes;
to allow stakeholders to share their experiences and research results about all
aspects of sustainable human and social development;
to discuss the practical challenges encountered in promoting sustainable
development and the solutions adopted; and
to find global partners for future business or research collaborations.

The conference consists of four sessions:
1. International Conference on Sustainable Social and Human Development
2. International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities
3. International Conference on Human Rights and Good Governance
4. International Conference on Sustainable Development.

19. PAN IIT
PanIIT Global Conference 2012
Kolkata
Personal experience (Nitanshu Gargs experience, in first person)
Whenever I attend such kind of high profile conferences, I truly get the taste of
how its like to act as a professional.
Many of my seniors in SIIRD participated in the last PanIIT held in 2010 at Delhi,
shared their experience with me and emphasized me to attend it whenever I can.
When I came to know about PanIIT, I wished to be a part of it for even once and it
really happened this time at Kolkata.
PanIIT held its 2012 annual global conference at the Science City Convention
Centre, Kolkata from 7
th
to 9
th
December with its theme : Excel, Transform,
Sustain. The focus was to take the nation-building mission forward through
skilling of its people down the line with the active participation of every member.
I, being an active member of SIIRD (Students initiative for Integrated Rural
Development), got the opportunity to showcase SIIRD through a poster session at
the conference with a team comprising 7 members.

Day 1:
In the inauguration ceremony, Mamata Banerjee, honorable Chief Minister of
West Bengal, lit the inaugural lamp of the PanIIT Global Conference 2012 and also
delivered a stirring address to the assembled delegates which touched many
among them. Thereafter, afternoon saw the commencement of the plenary
sessions on transforming and rebuilding India, showcasing of PanIITs initiatives
for India and global societies followed by panel discussions. These sessions
witnessed the presence of delegates such as Dr. Purnendu Chatterjee, Prof Ravi K
Bhaskaran, Sandipan Chakravortty and many more. It was a great feeling to be a
part of something that is so huge and noble. I was delighted to listen to such
personalities. In the evening prior to dinner, a colourful cultural program took
place followed by a special Session address by honorable Pallam Raju. Meanwhile
in the day, I and other SIIRD members set up our stall. We told about SIIRD to
many delegates and learnt their responses. I enjoyed and learnt a lot of things
whole day long. This was day one.

Day 2:
Second day started with a Brain storming Plenary Session on Technical education
and R&D - increasing collaboration between Industry & IITs chaired by Adil
Zainulbhai. In the afternoon, a plenary session on The future of clean politics in
India chaired by Abhijit Mehta witnessed the presence of public figures such as
Arvind Kejriwal. I attended the session and after the session, personally met
Mr.Kejriwal and Mr.Somnath Bharti. They visited our stall too. This was followed
by other sessions such as WHEELS (Water, Health, education, Environment,
Lifestyle, Security) and more. In the evening, there was a gathering of IIT Roorkee
alumni. Team SIIRD, cognizance members and our director, Mr.Pradipta Banerji
were also present there. Team SIIRD gave a PowerPoint presentation and told
about its initiatives to the people present there. Director Sir too interacted with
the alumni there. I enjoyed the whole scenario. Then I had a pleasant chat with
some of the alumni there and felt happiness in clicking snaps with them. At night,
had a beautiful dinner and danced a lot with alumni on the songs sung of Usha
Uthup.

Day 3:
This was the last day. It again started with sessions such as IITian Women -
Sharing experiences chaired by Kiran Malhotra, followed by various panel
discussions like role of IITians in Indian Civil Services, etc. In the afternoon, there
was a keynote session on harnessing world class Technologies for millions. It
witnessed the presence of Mr.Narayan Murthy and Mr. R. Gopalakrishnan. After
lunch, there was closing ceremony.
The conference had a deep impression on me and I have various memories of the
conference to cherish. Had lots of snaps, fun, enjoyment and satisfaction.

20. College Presentations
SIIRD showcased its work in other colleges to inspire those students to take up
social work on the lines of SIIRD. Below is the report of these college
presentations.
20.1. Moradabad Institute of technology, Moradabad
Date: February 1, 2014
Objectives
Objective of the presentation was interaction of SIIRD members with students of
Moradabad Institute of Technology to:
a) Tell them about extensive work done by SIIRD
b) Sensitize them and develop a sense of social responsibility among them
c) Encourage and guide them if they want to replicate SIIRD or any SIIRD
initiative in their institute
d) Improvement of presentation and communication skills of SIIRD members

Team Members
A team of four members went to represent SIIRD. Members were:
3. Vipul Chaturvedi
4. Chandramauli Awasthi
5. Adarsh Goyal
6. Rashika Ramola

Proceedings:
9. The team left for Moradabad at 5:50 AM on February 1, 2014 in a cab.
10. It reached Moradabad Institute of Technology (MIT) at 11:00 AM.
11. Four MIT students Deepika, Ahson, Rachna and Deepank came to receive it.
12. They led the team to a room, where SIIRD members were introduced to
Prof. Bhavna Agarwal (Acting Director of Department of Business Studies,
MIT), Prof. Smrita Gupta (Asst. Professor, MIT) and Prof. Rahul Singh (Asst.
Professor, MIT).
13. After breakfast and some interaction, a bouquet was presented to Prof.
Bhavna Agarwal.

Bouquet being presented to Prof. Bhavna Agarwal by SIIRD members

14. Prof. Rahul Sharma took SIIRD members to show around MIT campus. He
took the members to various departments, laboratories, workshops,
computer centre and library.

SIIRD members with Prof. Rahul Sharma and some MIT students

15. Prof. Rahul brought the team back to Department of Business Studies at
12:10 PM.
16. At 12:30 PM the team was taken to a hall, where presentation took place.
17. The audience comprised of 120 MBA students.
18. First, MIT students presented bouquets to SIIRD members.

Bouquets being presented to SIIRD members
19. Presentation began at 12:35 PM. Students of MIT took keen interest in the
presentation.
20. After the presentation, MIT students asked various questions. They were
very inquisitive about SIIRD. One student suggested that scrap pens from
campus can be collected in addition to waste paper, to raise money.

SIIRD members interacting with students of MIT after the presentation
21. At the end of the presentation, Prof. Bhavna Agarwal presented memento
to team SIIRD.
22. Lunch was also arranged at the institute. SIIRD members took their lunch
at 2:45 PM.
23. After lunch, Prof. Bhavna Agarwal introduced the team to Prof. (Dr.) S.
Mukherjee (Director General, MIT).

24. The team left for Roorkee at 3:30 PM and reached Roorkee at 8:00 PM.
After relieving the driver, they took their dinner and headed back to their
hostels.

Learning and Conclusion:
1. An important lesson that team SIIRD learnt from MIT is hospitality. MIT
family took very good care of SIIRD members. They were very interactive
and humble. Reception, breakfast, lunch, cab fare, and see-off, everything
was taken care of very well.

2. Interest and response of MIT students was very overwhelming. It gave a
boost to confidence of SIIRD members.

3. Presentation was as interactive as the discussion that followed.
Presentation skills of SIIRD members have benefitted greatly.

4. Good relations were built with Prof. Bhavna Agarwal, Prof. Smrita Gupta,
Prof. Rahul Sharma and students of Moradabad Institute of Technology.

5. The team learnt the importance of student student interaction. Work
done by students of their own age was more encouraging for students of
MIT.

6. Entire SIIRD team looks forward to more opportunities of such interactions,
where word about SIIRD can be spread and students can be sensitised.

20.2 IMS Unison University, Dehradun
Objectives
Objective of the presentation was interaction of SIIRD members with students of
IMS Unison University to:
1. To create awareness and sensitization among students
2. To enhance knowledge sharing through mutual interaction between
students of two different institutions.
3. To encourage students to take similar initiatives according to their own
ideas through the example of SIIRD.
4. To generate new strategies through interactions for rural development.

Team Members
A team of five members went to represent SIIRD. Members were:
1. Nitin Gupta.
2. Vipul Chaturvedi.
3. Rashika Ramola.
4. Rutuja Viregaonkar.
5. Siddhant Tripathy.

Proceedings:
1. The team left for Dehradun at 7: 00 AM on February 5, 2014 in a cab.
2. It reached IMS Unison University at 10:00 AM.
3. Prof. Parvi Bharti introduced the team members to Dr. M.P. Jain (Vice
Chancellor, IMS Unison University) and Dr. M.K. Bhandari (Dean, School of
Law, IMS Unison University).
4. First Nitin Gupta presented bouquet to Dr. M.P. Jain. It was followed by a
meeting in which Dr. M.P. Jain, Dr. M.K. Bhandari, Prof. Parvi Bharti and
SIIRDs team were present. In this meeting, IIT Roorkee and SIIRD were
discussed over tea.

Nitin Gupta presenting bouquet to Prof. M.P. Jain

Team having talks with the dignitaries
5. At 10.30 PM, the team was headed towards the seminar hall where it was
greeted by Dr. Harpreet Singh Grewal (Professor, School of Management,
IMS Unison University) and Dr. Amit Adlakha (Associate Professor, School of
Management, IMS Unison University).
6. Dr. M.K. Bhandari addressed the audience of about 200 students from
various streams and talked about the importance of groups such as SIIRD in
professional institutions.
7. Two sessions of the presentation were scheduled: one pre lunch and
another post lunch.
8. First session started at 10.30 AM and received hearty appreciation from
students and faculty members present.

Nitin Gupta interacting with students of IMS Unison University

9. At 11.30 AM, the team and the institute got a chance to meet Mr. Manoj
Sharma who had arrived to deliver a talk on social entrepreneurship.

Prof. Manoj Sharma talking to SIIRD Members
10. SIIRD team and students of IMS Unison University were honored to hear
about work and experiences of Mr. Manoj Sharma from him. He talked
about his work in Khirdwari and Guptkashi.

11. The first session was concluded at 12.30 PM. The team took lunch in
cafeteria with Prof. Parvi Bharti.

12. Second session started at 2.45 PM and it viewed a good audience of about
150 students of several streams who showed interest in the session. It was
concluded at 4.15 PM. It was followed by a discussion in which students of
IMS Unison University asked a number of questions.

13. The team then exchanged words of appreciation and thanksgiving with
Prof. M.P. Jain and Dr. Amit Adlakha and left for Roorkee at 5.00 PM.

The team with Dr. Amit Adlakha and Dr. MP Jain

1. The presentation was aimed at creating awareness and sensitization among the
students so that they can replicate the model of SIIRD or else, realize their
innovations without inhibitions.

2. It gave a boost-up to the confidence of the members in terms of presenting
themselves before an audience of varying mind-set and background.

3. The hospitality shown by IUU towards the team was awesome and
praiseworthy. It would certainly go a long way in establishing good relationship
with the institution.

4. The wholehearted appreciation shown by the students of IUU was worth being
extolled. The session certainly helped them to believe on their ideas and strive to
achieve them.

5. The interaction between the SIIRD members and the students of IUU formed
the crux of the session. An equal reciprocation from both the sides resulted in a
healthy exchange of knowledge and information.

6. Some students also showed interest in working as a part of SIIRD which is itself
a testimony to the success of the event organised.

7. The session, as a whole, worked towards resurrecting the buried emotions for
the underprivileged society, inter alia.

8. It is believed that the event could satisfy its objectives and would play a crucial
role in generating stalwarts in the field of social entrepreneurship.

20.3 Quantum School of Technology, Roorkee
Objectives:
To tell students of Quantum school of Technology about the work and ideas
of SIIRD
To share working experience as well as model that SIIRD follows in its
initiatives (collaboration of academia, government, industry and society)
To encourage students to come up and initiate such work with help of SIIRD
and its experience.
To interact with the students to know their views and ideas about such
works.
Members involved:
Uday Bhardwaj
Adarsh Goyal
Rashika Ramola
Shashank Raj
Harminder Kaur
Proceedings:
The team left Roorkee at 10:15 AM in a cab provided by Quantum School of
Technology.
Team reached Quantum Global Campus at 11:00 AM and was received by
Mr. Varun (PA of Mr. Rohit Kushwaha, Director of Quantum School of
Tehnology).
The team then met Dr. S.C. Handa (Director General, Quantum School of
Technology and former professor at civil department IIT Roorkee as well as
founder of Anushruti) who discussed with team about SIIRD and IIT
Roorkee.
He then made required arrangements for the presentation and
accompanied the team to the hall where the presentation took place.
The hall consisted of about 120 students of B.Tech I year.

Team SIIRD presenting bouquet to Dr. Handa

Dr. Handa briefly introduced SIIRD and talked about his own work in social
welfare and discussed the importance of such work in our lives.

Dr. Handa introducing SIIRD

The presentation started at 11:20 AM and ended at 12:10 AM.

Students taking keen interest in the presentation

Dr. Handa concluded the presentation very enthusiastically by asking the
students to come forward for such initiatives. Many students came
forward. They were very keen on doing work like SIIRD.
Dr. Handa collected names of these students and promised to create a
team in their college which will work in a nearby village following the model
of SIIRD.
After the presentation Dr. Handa took the team for campus visit and also
told the team about his own work in social development.
The team then met Dr. Kushwaha who appreciated the work of SIIRD and
enquired how SIIRD can help similar initiatives in other institutes.
Team members took lunch in campus mess at 1:15 PM.
After lunch, team was introduced to Mr. Shobit Goyal, Secretary of
Quantum School of Technology by Dr. Handa. Work of SIIRD was discussed
and appreciated.
The team then left the campus at 2:15 PM and reached IIT Roorkee at 3:00
PM.
The presentation went well and the work of SIIRD was appreciated by all
especially by Dr. Handa.
The hospitality of the college was very good.
Some students came forward to be a part of SIIRD or to form a group like
SIIRD in their college based on the learning of SIIRD.
The team looks forward to providing guidance to students of Quantum
College of Technology who are interested in such initiatives.
Dr. Handa and Dr. Kushwaha are looking forward to have more inputs from
SIIRD.
Team got a chance to interact with the students of another college and was
encouraged by their positive response.
Interaction with Dr. Handa was really inspiring.The session definitely helped
the team to improve the presentation as well as communication skills
21. Cognizance 2011
21.1 Back to the Roots event at Cognizance 2011
Date: 11
th
- 13
th
Mar, 2011
Event Co-ordinators
Falgun Shah, B. Tech 2
nd
Yr Metallurgy
Samdish Nirankari, B.Tech 2
nd
yr Civil

Back to the Roots event was organized in COGNIZANCE-2011, Annual Technical
festival of IIT Roorkee.
Aim of organizing the event:
The aim of the event was to motivate the students of various colleges to take up
initiatives for societal changes. Shri. T Vijay Kumar, JOINT Secretary Ministry of
Rural Development had suggested us to invite the students from other colleges to
showcase their work similar to SIIRD and make collaborative efforts by sharing
ideas. This was our other main motive of organizing such an event.
SUB-Events:
1. Panel Discussion

Panelists-
Shri T Vijay Kumar, Joint Secretary Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. Of
India
Mr. Parul Soni, Executive Director Ernst and Young.
Ms. Rita Soni, CEO NASSCOM FOUNDATION
Prof. V K Nangia, Chair Professor Knowledge Economy Project.
Session Moderator-
Dr. Rajat Aggrawal, Faculty Dept. of Management Studies, IIT Roorkee.

Theme- Collaboration of Government, Academia and Industry for Rural
Development for Sustainable Rural Transformation

More than 100 students actively participated in the event. The event started with
lighting of the lamp after which guests were presented with bouquet. Then SIIRD
Team gave its presentation of the work done by its members. The Panelists were
delighted and appreciated efforts of the SIIRD Team. Then Ms. Rita Soni, Mr. Parul
Soni and Shri T Vijay Kumar gave their insights and discussed the part played by
their field represented by them.

Then the students were provided with the slips where they wrote their questions.
These questions were then passed on to Panelists who then gave their ideas and
opinions on these. The students asked questions covering various issues of
importance. The interactive session was of great help to the students and was
inspiring and motivating for them.

The session ended with Prof. Nangias speech where he brought out the real time
problems faced by the students while taking up such initiatives for societal
changes. After which Prateek Mantri, member SIIRD gave vote of thanks. The
event ended with honouring the guests with mementos.

2. Exhibio
SIIRD Team organized three day exhibition for participants of KHOJ to showcase
their work in the form of collages and videos. These were displayed in the DOMS
lawn area and were very motivating for the students who came to see them.

THE
END
(Updated till
August 1, 2014)

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