Sep 28, 05 Grassroot Innovations and Dr. Anil Gupta
Anil Gupta is an anti-poverty activist and enthusiastic supporter of India's grassroots innovators. 15 years ago he launched the Honey Bee Network, an organization that champions "knowledge rich, economically poor people"
An amphibious bicycle that is handy during flooding, A bicycle in which, every time there is a bump or ditch on the road, the energy is transferred to the rear wheel to make it go faster, a tool to climb a coconut tree, a microwindmill-driven battery charger, use of Tamarind and lemon for pest control, a shoulder rest for women carrying water, sculptures made from the secretion of Termites….
These inventions did not come from universities or research labs. These are some of the innovations of knowledge rich, economically poor grassroot inventors. But without a support network, their dream of seeing these innovations being used widely and generating income for them will never materialize. Or worse, they may find another individual, corporation, or institution developing and marketing it without due credit.
Troubling questions like these brought our guest for today, Dr. Anil Gupta, and like-minded people together more than fifteen years ago to start the Honey Bee network. This group found it totally unfair and unethical that the only resource in which poor people were rich, that is their knowledge, is taken away from them without any attribution, accountability or reciprocity.
The Honey Bee network is a global initiative giving voice to creative and innovative people at the grassroots level. It aims to honor local experts and innovators, generate consciousness about sustainable agriculture, and promote the conservation of biodiversity and share the experience with others. Furthermore, it strives to connect one innovator with another through feedback, communication and networking in the local language.
A data base of thousands of innovations and traditional knowledge was built up, all with the name and addresses of the knowledge providers, some of it shared with knowledge providers and others through Honey bee News letter and its local language versions.
Honey Bee Network led to the development of SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions), an NGO setup to strengthen the creativity of grassroots innovators, and in 2000 to government of India’s National Innovation Foundation.
Our guest for this show is Dr. Anil Gupta, a professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, who was critical in the formation of the Honey Bee Network, SRISTI and the National Innovation Fund. Dr. Gupta is an anti-poverty activist and enthusiastic supporter of India's grassroots innovators. Among his very long list of honors, is the Padma Shri National Award that he received from the President of India in January 2004
For more details see:
nifindia.org
sristi.org
indiainnovates.com
gian.org
