Grassroots Technology Initiatives

Grassroots Innovation: Kaizen in Indian Street Engineering Workshops Street engineering workshops in India, found in market areas and narrow lanes, excel in grassroots innovation through kaizen, meaning continuous improvement. These small, family-run establishments understand customer needs and deliver simple, effective home-related solutions using basic mechanics. Here are some examples: 1. Improvised Spare Parts : When specific home appliance spare parts are unavailable or too expensive, street engineers fabricate parts using basic metalworking tools and local materials. This keeps appliances functional without costly imports or long waits. 2. Affordable Automation Solutions : For home-based businesses, street engineers develop simple automation solutions. These include motorized devices for sewing machines, automated irrigation systems for gardens using recycled materials, and mechanized tools for small-scale production. These solutions enhance productivity and reduce manual labor. 3. Cooling Solutions for Appliances : In regions with extreme heat, home appliances like fans and coolers often overheat. Street workshops devise simple cooling solutions, such as installing small fans powered by the appliance’s own power supply or creating custom vents for better air circulation. These modifications maintain performance and extend appliance life. 4. Noise Reduction in Home Equipment : Noise pollution from home equipment can be a nuisance. Street workshops offer noise-reducing solutions, such as adding custom mufflers, using rubber mounts to dampen vibrations, or retrofitting soundproofing materials around noisy components. These solutions significantly improve the home environment. 5. Water Pump Innovations : Efficient water pumps are critical for home gardens and small-scale farming. Street engineers innovate by modifying hand pumps to work with electric motors or creating hybrid systems that can switch between manual and motorized operation, ensuring reliable water access. 6. Enhanced Ergonomics for Tools : Home tools often need ergonomic adjustments to reduce user fatigue and improve efficiency. Street workshops modify handles, grips, and control systems to better suit individual needs, typically done on-site. The street engineering workshops of India embody kaizen through their continuous pursuit of better, simpler home-related solutions. Their deep connection with the community and understanding of customer problems enable effective innovation with limited resources, proving that impactful solutions often come from simple ideas #india #engineering #innovation #motivation #inspiration #design #education

I spend 20–25 days a month in the field. Not as a CEO, but as a student. Here’s the uncomfortable truth about building for grassroots India: You can't do it from a glass office. At GROWiT, we don’t treat farmers as customers. We treat them as gurus. Every village teaches me something no Zoom call ever can. Over chai, I discovered that problems are hyperlocal. Alluvial soil in Gujarat behaves differently than black soil in Maharashtra. What works in one village fails in another. **You can’t design solutions unless you touch grass. Here’s what farmers taught me:** They don’t care about pitch decks. But they open up when they see you listening, not selling. So listen with humility. Learn with an open mind. In school, we were taught: “India lives in villages.” – Gandhi At GROWiT, we believe innovation does too. That’s why we don’t “deploy” tech. We co-create it with farmers, not for them. Because when tech is built in isolation, it fails in translation. Even the best-designed product means nothing if it doesn’t speak the language of the land. The brutal reality? Tech doesn’t fail. Rollouts fail when we don’t listen. Because we didn’t keep our ears to the ground. That’s why presence matters. Not just in launch meetings but in the fields, over chai, on repeat visits. I often ask myself: What if I stop showing up on-ground? My team will too. And that golden thread of trust will break. In Bharat, trust > tech. You want to build tech for India? First, build trust in India. At GROWiT, we don’t lead from the top. Tech is step two. Listening to local wisdom is still step one. 🌱 What’s one ground-level insight you’ve learned that no report ever told you?

Technology can be a great leveler, as tech tools empower David to fight Goliath!   At Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST), we've seen firsthand how grassroots entrepreneurs use digital tools to manage inventory, access credit, connect with mentors, and even reach new markets.   Five years ago, many of these possibilities felt distant. But today, digital readiness and adoption among MSMEs is steadily rising.   As per the Crisil report, nearly 47% of India's microenterprises and 53% of SMEs use digital sales platforms. Another survey by the Endurance International Group suggests that 50% of micro and small enterprises have adopted technologies such as WhatsApp and other video conferencing tools for daily business operations. Digitization, including social media marketing and social commerce, boosts sales, customer relationships, and profitability. MSMEs have also improved operational efficiency by digitizing sales, cash flow, inventory, and invoicing processes.   This shift has changed how grassroots enterprises operate, and how technology has enabled them to run smarter and more connected businesses.   #DigitalInclusion #GrassrootsInnovation #TechForGood #EntrepreneurshipForAll   

Powering Rural India – The Renewable Energy Way! During a recent visit to my hometown Dharashiv, Maharashtra, I had the pleasure of meeting a young and dynamic IAS officer, Mr. Keerthi Kiran (2018 batch), currently serving as District Collector, Dharashiv. While it was our first face-to-face interaction, our discussion quickly turned to opportunities in the renewable energy space — and what he shared left a lasting impression. As CEO of Zilla Parishad, Ratnagiri Mr. Keerthi Kiran led an innovative and impactful project titled: “Tackling Public Utility Light Bills the Solar Way” Here’s the concept in brief: • Annual rural street light electricity bill in Ratnagiri is around Rs 9.16 Cr • These bills are paid by Gram Panchayats & local bodies through limited self-funds. • Solution? Utilize barren government land to set up a 1 MW Solar Plant. Project Highlights: • 19 lakh units/year of clean power generated • Revenue: ~Rs 85 lakhs/year (@ Rs 4.5/unit under Open Access PPA) • After O&M costs: ~Rs 80 lakhs/year available • Revenue equitably distributed to Gram Panchayats using 15th Finance Commission formula • Covers 10% of the district’s annual light bill! This project — commissioned on 15th August 2024 — is a first-of-its-kind where a local body signed a PPA with a private industrial consumer. Executed via EPC mode with support from Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA), the project overcame hurdles like grid connectivity, project registration, and transmission infrastructure. Why this matters: This model is scalable and replicable across districts and tehsils in India and can utilise Renewable Energy resources such as Wind, Solar, Biomass based on the availability of the resources. It can: • Reduce dependency on government funds • Hedge rising electricity costs for 25 years • Generate local jobs • Promote decentralized clean energy This is the kind of grassroots innovation that deserves national attention — from State Governments to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) MyGov India Kudos to Mr. Keerthi Kiran, all the officials of MSEDCL, MEDA and obviously the Political Masters who supported this unique concept and the team at ZP Ratnagiri! #energytransition Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Government of India Government of Maharashtra (GoM) #SolarnWindIsTheSolution Mahaurja Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co (Msedcl)

Tech for Palestine are one of the few coalitions in tech that's actually walking the walk instead of just posting empty solidarity statements. 10,000+ founders, engineers, investors, and professionals who've decided their skills should serve something bigger than the next unicorn startup or vanity metric. Their Incubator program connects advocacy groups, nonprofits, and startups with real technical firepower - volunteers who know how to build, mentors who've scaled products, marketing support that doesn't suck, and a network that spans continents. All free, which is refreshingly rare in a world where everyone's trying to monetise purpose. This isn't performative allyship. It's engineers debugging websites for grassroots organisations. It's product managers helping advocacy groups streamline their operations. It's investors opening doors that usually stay locked for mission-driven work. The tech industry loves to talk about changing the world while building the forty-seventh meditation app or optimising ad click-through rates. Tech for Palestine shows what happens when that energy gets redirected toward actual systemic change. They're proving that our collective technical obsessions can serve liberation instead of just shareholder value. If you're building something that advances Palestinian rights, they want to help. If you've got skills to contribute, they need you. If you know organisations that could use technical support, make the introduction. Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is use your day job skills for something that actually matters. https://lnkd.in/eQ9pBgit

Spotted this automation in a temple today. A humble yellow motor driving a bell, cymbal, and drum in perfect rhythm. No microcontrollers, no PLCs, no fancy electronics. Just a motor, a pulley, some welded linkages,Cams and a drum. For decades, this has replaced manual drumming during temple rituals while preserving the soundscape of the space. These automated percussion systems evolved in Tamil Nadu and Kerala temple towns when electrification reached villages, manpower became scarce, and temple trusts wanted a low-cost way to maintain tradition. Local workshops built them from wet grinder motors, bicycle parts, and locally sourced bells and drums. They work daily, year after year, with minimal maintenance. This is frugal Indian engineering at its best. It’s automation, but on our terms. Simple, rugged, culturally embedded, and easily repairable by the local electrician. Sometimes we think of automation only as sensors and IoT dashboards. But real India has always done it with pulleys and scrap, making tech that blends with tradition, not replaces it. If we want to build in Indian hardware for India, this is a reminder. Build what people will use, repair, and trust. That’s how you create tech that becomes culture. #FrugalEngineering #IndianInnovation #LocalAutomation #TempleTech #MakeInIndia #GrassrootsEngineering #CulturalTech #Jugaad #SustainableDesign #TechThatBlends #ManufacturingMindset #BuildForIndia #EngineeringStories #FounderNotes #Tier2Pride

Innovation, the Indian way. What you see here isn’t from a fancy R&D lab — it’s from rural India. A farmer has mounted a grain processing machine on his motorbike, turning it into a portable milling unit. This is the level of ingenuity and problem-solving that exists at the grassroots. With little access to formal infrastructure, people create solutions that are practical, low-cost, and built for their daily needs. Imagine what could happen if such innovators received the right training, design support, and mentorship. Small “jugaad” like this could transform into scalable machines, creating livelihoods and local enterprises. India doesn’t lack innovation — it just needs the right ecosystem to polish and scale it. Here’s to celebrating and supporting such real innovators who show us what’s possible with limited resources but unlimited creativity.

☀️🕶️Hey Eco-Warriors! Have you heard of Jugaad Innovation? 💡 Disruptive innovation, the motto of Silicon Valley, emphasizes breakthrough technologies and market-disruptive products. The relentless drive for the next big thing frequently leads to over-extraction of resources, increased pollution, and a disregard for broader societal impacts. 📲 Take the smartphone industry, for example: each new generation comes with minor improvements yet results in massive electronic waste and the depletion of finite resources like rare earth metals. The race for innovation in sectors like this can exacerbate environmental degradation and contribute to a throwaway culture that is anything but sustainable. 💚The Jugaad Philosophy: Innovation with a Conscience Jugaad, a Hindi term for an improvised solution born from ingenuity and resource constraints, offers a counter-narrative. This approach is about simplicity, efficiency, and local solutions tailored to specific needs. It’s about doing more with less—leveraging limited resources creatively to solve pressing problems. ⚡️Resource Efficiency: Jugaad innovation emphasizes minimal resource usage, transforming constraints into opportunities. This contrasts sharply with the resource-intensive nature of many Silicon Valley innovations. 🌲Environmental Impact: By focusing on sustainability, Jugaad reduces waste and promotes recycling and upcycling. 👥Social Inclusion: Jugaad often arises from grassroots initiatives, addressing local challenges with locally sourced solutions. This inclusivity ensures that innovations are accessible and beneficial to wider segments of the population, not just the affluent. The Case for Local Innovation Hubs In this context, the value of creating local innovation hubs within cities makes sense. These hubs, deeply rooted in their unique contextual environments, foster solutions tailored to local needs and resources. Moving away from the obsession with scaling, these centers emphasize the importance of local and regional solutions over global ones. Not every innovation needs to be a one-size-fits-all answer; instead, we should embrace the diversity of local challenges and opportunities. By focusing on regional solutions, we harness the power of localized knowledge and community-driven initiatives, ensuring that innovations are not only effective but also sustainable and culturally relevant. This shift from a global mindset to a local one aligns perfectly with the principles of Jugaad, reinforcing the idea that true progress is often found in context-specific approaches that respect and enhance their immediate environments. The time has come to rethink our innovation strategies. Jugaad is not just a methodology; it’s a mindset that champions ingenuity, sustainability, and inclusivity. Let’s champion Jugaad innovation as the new standard for sustainable progress. Find more insights on MOONFLARE here: https://lnkd.in/dgvv3253 📷 artist: Tanaka Tatsuya