NE youths come up with extrordinary innovations

Guwahati, Aug 11 (UNI) Village youths, who are not even graduates, in this north eastern state have come up with innovations that could stun IIT experts.

Extraordinary inventions have been created by these youths, including Sondhan Saharia of Mangaldai, whose ''paddy huller'' could de-husk more than one kg of rice grains in three minutes.

From the traditional ''pitha guri'' (grinded rice) and ''chira'' to spices, the huller - a small wooden box with two levers and a cone at the top - proved to be an effective grinder, besides being a husker. It also had the potential to replace the electronic mixer, with a fraction of the investment.

The conventional de-huskers utilised electric power or diesel generators, while the prototype innovated by Saharia was manually run. Moreover, it prevented the frequent breakage of grains.

''When I came upon a cotton-seed separator, I thought of making a huller that could serve a variety of grinding and de-husking purposes. I worked on it for seven months and finally came up with this,'' Saharia said.

He also said wood, some screws, a roller and tin were used to make the huller, which cost him only around Rs 1,000.

Meanwhile, the Grassroot Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN) of IIT, Guwahati was studying Mr Saharia's machine and exploring its viability.

Once the technology institute approved his machine, Saharia expected that companies would come up to manufacture the machine on a large scale.

Besides Saharua, over 24 village youths from across the Northeast displayed their creative innovations in the ongoing exhibition organised by North East Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFCL) in collaboration with the Rural Technology Action Group (RuTAG-NE) and GIAN-NE here.

A resident of Baihata Chariali, Milan Jyoti Das, had already sold eight machines of his Poultry Egg Incubator, which resembled a refrigerator.

This machine was much cheaper than the conventional ones available in the market. Besides, by using an alternative kerosene lamp, Das's incubator solved the problems arising during electricity failure.

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