A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between CSIR, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan(UBA) and Vijnana Bharti(VIBHA) on 28th July 2020 in the gracious presence of Dr. Shekhar C. Mande DG CSIR & Secretary DSIR; Professor Virendra Kumar Vijay, National Coordinator, UBA; Dr. Sunil. K. Khare, Dean R &D, IIT Delhi; and Prof. Ranjana Aggarwal, Director CSIR-NIScPR, New Delhi; Shri Jayant Sahasrabudhe National Organising Secretary, VIBHA and Shri Praveen Ramdas (VIBHA).
MoU Signing Ceremony, 28th July 2020, CSIR NIScPR, Satsang Vihar Marg Campus, New Delhi
The purpose of the MoU is to provide an enabling platform to create livelihood opportunities in rural areas through intervention of CSIR Technologies using the vast countrywide network created by UBA and VIBHA; in the wake of situation created by COVID. Looking at the expertise of CSIR-NIScPR in the area of Science Policy research and Science & Technology(S&T) Management, CSIR-NIScPR has been designated as nodal lab to act as interface between UBA and CSIR for chalking out the strategy for the possible S & T interventions through CSIR Technologies. As a part of this MoU various events have been organized to showcase CSIR technologies for the benefit of stakeholders from rural areas. These include launch ceremony of CSIR Technologies on 30th September 2020. In this ceremony Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the then Hon’ble Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare formally released CSIR Technologies for Rural Development. In this event four CSIR technologies were showcased and demonstrated for the benefit of the stakeholders in rural areas.
Following this launch ceremony, another event was organized in online mode on 19th March 2021 in which some more CSIR technologies were presented before the stakeholders and potential users from rural areas. Another set of CSIR Technologies were displayed in both personal and online mode in Technology Conclave held from 9-10 April 2021 at Shillong in Meghalya which was organized by North East Center for Technology Application & Research(NECTAR). So far around 30 CSIR technologies suitable for deployment in rural areas have been showcased before the stakeholders from these areas through joint efforts of CSIR, UBA and VIBHA. As a result of this technology showcasing of CSIR Technologies, around 40 UBA institutions across four states of Manipur, Gujarat, West Bengal and Uttarakhand have expressed interest to implement one or more CSIR technologies in their nearby villages. Therefore, a series of discussion meetings are being held with the interested stake holders to discuss the modalities of technology transfer to prospective technology recipients through the UBA network including village heads, Volunteers, NGOs and Self Help Groups(SHGs) etc. Two such meetings organized so far for Shiitake Mushroom production and processing technology developed by CSIR-IHBT Palampur and Improved Gur Bhatti Technology developed by CSIR-IIP Dehradun respectively. The objective of these meetings is to find prospective technology recipients for CSIR technologies who could adopt CSIR Technologies and to discuss further course of action for arranging required resources for technology deployment. In these meetings the technology developer scientists from CSIR presented and demonstrated advantages of the CSIR Technologies, infrastructure required for product development, revenue that may be earned using the technologies, and the market potential of the technology etc. The stakeholders attending these meetings have shown keen interest in these technologies and enquired about the required investment and the support they may be getting from CSIR. Following these meetings some of these interested stakeholders have sent a detailed implementation plans for implementing CSIR Technologies at their end and now one to one meetings are under progress with these stakeholders for actual deployment of CSIR Technologies at ground level.