A JUGAAD SNAPSHOT
We
Invent Like This Only
We’re
all too familiar with Jugaad, an Indian coinage for any clever improvisation.
This homegrown concept is now being adopted by companies and governments the
world over while making new products, offering services and trying out various
business models. Here is a list of some Indian innovations that exhibit the key elements
of jugaad — frugality and inclusiveness:
Product/Services Innovator
Innovation
A retrofi tted cycle that goes faster on cratered roads
Kanak Das of Morigaon, a village in Assam, caught the attention of an IIM professor, who helped helped patent the device. MIT trying to apply Das’s innovation to automobiles
Generating energy from shock absorbers. Das fitted a front shock absorber that compresses and releases energy whenever his cycle hit a bump
POWER(LESS)COOLING
Mitticool, a low-cost fridge that works without electricity
Mansukh Prajapati, a former tea-shopowner-turned-entrepreneur, who was inspired by a newspaper headline that described a matka, or an earthen pot, as a fridge
Used the concept of the cooling effect of evaporation to make an earthen refrigerator. Created a new industrial process for working with clay
Mitticool, a low-cost fridge that works without electricity
Mansukh Prajapati, a former tea-shopowner-turned-entrepreneur, who was inspired by a newspaper headline that described a matka, or an earthen pot, as a fridge
Used the concept of the cooling effect of evaporation to make an earthen refrigerator. Created a new industrial process for working with clay
LIGHTING THE WAY
Providing solar lights to the poor
Harish Hande, founder of Solar Electric Light Company, has installed his energy solution in more than 125,000 households
Worked out a business model that enabled poorest of poor buy lights by roping in grassroots entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs own the solar panels and batteries. They rent out lights to individual customers and collect small payments on a daily basis. SELCO guarantees quick repairs, even in remote areas, thus providing a high level of service at a low cost
Providing solar lights to the poor
Harish Hande, founder of Solar Electric Light Company, has installed his energy solution in more than 125,000 households
Worked out a business model that enabled poorest of poor buy lights by roping in grassroots entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs own the solar panels and batteries. They rent out lights to individual customers and collect small payments on a daily basis. SELCO guarantees quick repairs, even in remote areas, thus providing a high level of service at a low cost
MAKING HEALTHCARE SIMPLE
Mobile tele-medicine clinic to offer follow-up care for diabetes patients in rural Tamil Nadu
Chennai-based diabetologist Dr V Mohan provides care for rural patients by deploying mobile clinics equipped with tele-medicine technologies that permit instant transmission of results of diagnostic tests via satellite unplink to doctors in Chennai
The patient doesn’t have to go to the doctor
Engaged local youth to run the mobile clinics
Convinced these “diabetes ambassadors” to work for free
Roped in ISRO, which offered free satellite communication
Mobile tele-medicine clinic to offer follow-up care for diabetes patients in rural Tamil Nadu
Chennai-based diabetologist Dr V Mohan provides care for rural patients by deploying mobile clinics equipped with tele-medicine technologies that permit instant transmission of results of diagnostic tests via satellite unplink to doctors in Chennai
The patient doesn’t have to go to the doctor
Engaged local youth to run the mobile clinics
Convinced these “diabetes ambassadors” to work for free
Roped in ISRO, which offered free satellite communication
KEEPING BABIES SAFE
Low-cost incubator, or infant warmer. Premature babies are kept in these cribs to regulate body temperature. A traditional incubator costs up to 1 lakh
Dr Sathya Jeganathan, a pediatrician in Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, came up with the idea of a cheaper, easyto-maintain warmer after the state government failed to supply incubators on time
Her fi rst prototype was a radiant infant warmer with a wooden frame and a 100-watt bulb as a heating source. Dr Jeganathan now has a provisional patent for a modifi ed device. Final product could cost up to 15,000
Low-cost incubator, or infant warmer. Premature babies are kept in these cribs to regulate body temperature. A traditional incubator costs up to 1 lakh
Dr Sathya Jeganathan, a pediatrician in Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, came up with the idea of a cheaper, easyto-maintain warmer after the state government failed to supply incubators on time
Her fi rst prototype was a radiant infant warmer with a wooden frame and a 100-watt bulb as a heating source. Dr Jeganathan now has a provisional patent for a modifi ed device. Final product could cost up to 15,000
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