Grass Root - Innovation
The spirit of product innovation from this ‘serial innovator’ did not go unnoticed.
He won:
• The President’s Award for Innovation in 2009,
• Shristi Samman- the Master Innovator Award by National Innovation Foundation, India, in 2007 and
• The Meritorious Invention Award 2010 from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
Bharali, today is known for his numerous innovations.
• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) journal in 2006 mentioned him and his innovation — the pomegranate de-seeding machine.
• Discovery Channel featured a documentary film on him in 2007.
Today, this self made innovator is a technical consultant to the Rural Technological Action Group (RUTAG) of IIT Guwahati, a guest faculty at the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati and a resource scholar to numerous technical schools and colleges in Assam.
With 98 innovations to his credit and still working on many more, Udhab Bharali is today known as a serial innovator and social entrepreneur. But he does not hold any formal education degree in engineering. He could not complete his engineering degree due to certain obligations.
He says his efforts are aimed at providing cutting edge technology to the poor people who are in need but cannot afford to buy costly machinery.
In more ways than one, Bharali has proved to the world that grassroots innovations can be a lucrative entrepreneurial endeavour. He also believes in service to the poor and the needy. That explains why he gives away his machines to those who do not have the means to procure them. His benevolence is also reflected when he helps beggars in every possible way by offering them money, food and free medicines.
