Biju Dharmapalan
Science and technology are the wheels that take our country forward. The speed of this journey will depend on the efficacy of the wheels. Bharat’s progress after independence is due to the strides in scientific innovation undertaken by our scientific community. This is evident in every field associated with human life, be it agriculture, the food sector, the healthcare sector or infrastructure and communication. Most of these innovations by the scientific community reach society through industries. Hence, they will be costly and may not be affordable to everyone. Scientists and technologists usually look at the value of innovation in terms of money, but they rarely calculate the value in terms of societal usage. This has its own shortcomings. Most researchers take the idea or intuition from the peer-reviewed publications of Western scientists. This often lacks local connections, and because of this, even today, we were not able to find solutions to trivial problems affecting society, whereas we have made envious innovations in space and technology. This also creates a bottleneck in developing disruptive discoveries and innovations.
The greatest innovations in human history were not made by a trained scientific community but by untrained naturalists who had great observation skills and creativity. Modern science, as we see it today, is a very recent phenomenon that has been around for 400 years. But even before that, for millions of years, humans have survived on this planet and lived happily utilizing the state-of-the-art technologies available during that. This is evident if we observe the culture and heritage of great civilizations in the world. Many innovations that we observe today are the technological replicas copied from our forefathers. To whom should we give credit for the invention of nuts and screws , which is the fundamental component in almost all modern innovations? Even our bullock carts that roamed on our roads till the early 80’s were the greatest innovation during the time. There was a time when having a bullock cart was a luxury and had the status of a modern Benz. Making a bullock cart also involved innovation, though the makers rarely knew the scientific principles. Many such innovations can be observed in our ancient architectural marvels that a modern trained architectural engineer fails to achieve.
The problem with our scientific community is that they rarely create something new to the core. They just copy the idea from the peer-reviewed publications made by their Western counterpart and transform that knowledge into a product. The problem with such discoveries and inventions is that it is targeted to industries and not to society. This creates a lacuna between the real inventions and their utility to society. Once the idea reaches the industries, their primary concern is how to monetize it. This is also reflected in the development of disruptive discoveries and innovations. Disruptive technologies can be developed only from an original idea. To get an original idea, scientists need to get themselves connected with society and nature. It cannot be gathered simply by sitting inside the four walls of air-conditioned rooms.
The scientific community of the present generation looks at traditional people to gather new ideas, rarely giving credit to its original creators. They change the colour of the idea by giving the finishing touches of modern science. But copying and real always has a difference. Most of such copied innovations may have many pitfalls and not be affordable to common man. Innovations should address the local problems, then only it will have value.
It is here that our grassroots innovators come into the picture. Grassroots innovation ventures are born out of the specific needs and obstacles faced by communities at the local level. These initiatives are driven by individuals who intimately understand the dynamics, challenges, and opportunities present within their own surroundings. By immersing themselves in the fabric of their communities, grassroots innovators gain insights into the unique needs and circumstances that shape daily life for the people they serve. Every village in our country is a storehouse of grassroots innovators that can be effectively utilized for the country’s development.
This deep understanding allows grassroots innovators to tailor their solutions to the specific context in which they operate. Rather than imposing standardized approaches, they develop interventions that are finely tuned to the realities of their environment. This localized approach ensures that the solutions they devise are relevant and have a meaningful impact on the lives of community members.
Moreover, because grassroots innovators are embedded within the communities they serve, they are better positioned to address the root causes of problems rather than merely addressing their symptoms. By tackling underlying issues, these solutions have the potential to create lasting change and improve overall well-being in the community. This focus on sustainability and long-term impact distinguishes grassroots innovation from more top-down approaches, which may overlook the nuances of local contexts.
In essence, grassroots innovation embodies a bottom-up approach that harnesses local communities’ knowledge, creativity, and resourcefulness to address their own challenges. Empowering individuals to become agents of change within their communities fosters a sense of ownership and collective responsibility, ultimately leading to more effective and sustainable solutions.
The government of India, through various initiatives implemented through the National Innovation Foundation -India, an autonomous organization of the Department of Science and Technology promotes and grass root innovators and innovations , to reach the mainstream of society.
Even when our scientists have made commendable innovations in space science and technology, vaccine development and agriculture using the tools of modern science, we still fail to solve trivial problems affecting the society. In these niche areas our scientific community should work in collaboration with grass root innovators. This year when we celebrate the national science day on the theme ‘Indigenous Technologies for Viksit Bharat,’ we should appreciate the contributions of our grass root innovators who develop innovations for their community without expecting anything in return.
(The author is an adjunct faculty at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore)
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