Day 30 – Q 4.Can technological innovations be used for uplifting the poor and the marginalised? Illustrate with the help of at least 3 examples.

4. Can technological innovations be used for uplifting the poor and the marginalised? Illustrate with the help of at least 3 examples. 

क्या तकनीकी नवाचारों का उपयोग गरीबों और हाशिए पर रहने वालों के उत्थान के लिए किया जा सकता है? कम से कम 3 उदाहरणों की मदद से चित्रण करें।

Introduction:

The marginalized communities are Women, people with disabilities, lower caste, aged people, transgender, poor, the downtrodden, etc. These people are socially, economically, politically and legally ignored and excluded in Indian society.

Body

Role of technological innovations

• Inclusive development.
• Sustainable growth.
• Participate in nation’s scientific, technological, financial, political, and social life.
• Use of technology is having cascading and multiplier effect.
• To assist marginalized communities through e-learning or tele-medicine services.
• Confidence and moral support

Examples for technological innovation

• Massive open online course (MOOC)

Purpose: It is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web.

Mechanism: Traditional course materials, such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, many MOOCs provide interactive courses with user forums to support community interactions among students, professors, and teaching assistants.

• Photo-Voltaic (PV) Integrated Micro Solar Dome (MSD) 

Purpose: Slums suffer from low lighting due to poor ventilation, as sunlight cannot enter the cramped spaces. Switching on electric lights is a necessity, even though they have to brave the heat it gives off.

Mechanism: The Micro Solar Dome takes light and passes it through a sun-tube with a thin layer of highly reflective coating on the inner wall. A shutter at the bottom of the lower dome, can close it if light isn’t required. This wonderful innovation is fitted with photo-voltaic cells.

• Old age support integrated services (OASIS)

Purpose: To bridge the gap between the elderly and caregivers using technological solutions.

Mechanism: Healthcare monitoring devices developed by OASIS come in the form of sensors and radar equipment that “monitor falls, heart rates, motion and pressure integrated to a ‘complete sleep monitoring system’ with an Android App which can be monitored remotely.

• Assistive cars

Purpose:  Designed and built a mechanism that can be easily installed under a car’s driving seat, making it disabled-friendly.

Mechanism: The original seat, along with its track and reclining motion, remains intact. The seat is removed, the mechanism is installed, and the seat is put back. So, there is no modification made in the car’s structure or core functioning, except that it now becomes disabled-friendly.

• Suraksha application in mobile

Purpose: Designed to protect the modern Indian woman

Mechanism: It will help women in distress alert police for help, as it is linked to the police control room and patrolling vehicles in the city. Karnataka government has also made available 200+ cars patrolling cities for the safety of women and empowerment. Through this app, the person in distress has to hold the phone in front of the attacker so that the camera can record a 10-second video. An alarm will be sent to the control room along with the video.

• Real-time text to Braille converter

Purpose: A letter-to-letter Braille converter that prints the recognised letter in the Braille cell.

Mechanism: The product consists of a small cuboid which can be held with three fingers (thumb, index, and middle) and get placed on a printed text. The user has to slide the cuboid on the text to read it.

Other important technological innovations:

• Gaming for the specially challenged people
• System for detection of adulteration in milk (KSHEER-SCANEER)
• KrishiShakti, an Indigenous Diesel Engine Tractor for small land Holdings
• Anaerobic Digester to convert Household Organic Kitchen Waste to Biogas: Interventions for ‘Swachh Bharat
• Earthquake Warning System

Conclusion

CSIR, IIT, IISc, national innovation foundation, Atal tinkering labs, Atal incubation centres, department of science and technology are making consistent efforts to uplift the marginalized people for the aim of sustainable development.