An interview with Uddhab Bharali Ever since his first innovation in 1988, there has been no looking back for Uddhab Bharali, serial innovator and social entrepreneur. He has innovated 98 engineering devices so far for various purposes and has 100s of assignments in the pipeline.
He is also the winner of various prestigious awards including the ‘President’s award for innovation in 2009’ , ‘Shristi Samman – master innovator award’ by NIF-India on 2007 and is also the recipient of the ‘Meritorious Invention award 2010’, from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. In a discussion with the editorial board of Friends, about his journey so far and future plans, Uddhab Bharali talks to Dibyajyoti Sharma and Rupkamal Sarma. 1. Though many of your innovations have other commercial applications, it seems most of the machines you have built have agricultural uses, including the mini CTC tea plant you have developed. Is it a conscious decision to develop machinery to help in agriculture or agro-based industries, or it just happens? I ask this question because Assam has more potential for agri-based industries than other ventures. 2. As far as I understand, your first innovation was building a polythene film-making unit. As the machinery available in the market was expensive, you decided to make your own unit at a cheaper cost, and you succeeded. It seems making machines, which the common man can afford to use and profit from it, is one of the major goals of your innovations. Isn’t it? Do tell us more about it. UKB: (Questions 1 and 2 combined) Yes as you said, it is a conscious decision to develop machinery that benefits the poorer sections of the society. It’s not only about agriculture based machinery but it could be anything that makes life easier for those in need. My innovations are meant to help people in need. I have come from very difficult circumstances. I used to skip meals and sleep on an empty stomach at times or borrow food to eat. Thus, I feel my innovations should mean sometime to the sections of society so that people can have something even out of nothing. Let me illustrate - Coconuts are sold in the market and there are coconut trees in almost every rural household in Assam but the coconut leaves are not put to use. If you start making brooms tomorrow at home using a low cost machine that makes your work easy you will get more income from selling those brooms than you get from the coconuts. It will add to your income from the coconuts. Thus, this is the benefit of innovation for the common man. 3/4 3. Though you strive to build cost-effective machines, cost still remains a major factor. Where do you get your raw material? Where do you build the machines? Where do you test? How does the whole research and development process work? 4. As far as we know, you have an organization, UKB Agrotech, for research and development. Can you tell us about the facility – infrastructure, workforce and so on? Do you work alone or there are assistants to help you? UKB (Questions 3 and 4 combined): Yes cost of materials can be expensive but if you do not get materials make the design simple. That will cut down the costs of manufacturing. I use materials that are locally available because the idea is to keep the costs down and keep production to such a level that might be sufficient for individuals but not adequate for mass commercial consumption. Machines are usually built at UKB Agrotech machine designing research center. Depending on the specifics of the machine, nowadays, the different parts are manufactured by different people in my home district only to whom this work is outsourced. These parts are then sent to UKB Agrotech where the parts are assembled to build the final product. The UKB Agrotech is the only machine designing research center in India where I have trained staff under me who work exclusively for UKB Agrotech. Currently there are nine people working with me. 5. Can you tell us about the business aspect of your innovations? How do you actually go about marketing and commercialising your innovation? Tell us the process. UKB: I am not interested in large scale commercialisation of my innovations and since my main focus is the needy sections of the people. Private parties interested in my innovations get in touch with me and they take care of the marketing and commercialising. I like to focus on the research and development part of the innovation. 6. Your innovations include as many as 98 innovations for use in agriculture and for commercial purposes. Do you have patents for these innovations? Have you taken any special measures to protect the rights of your innovations? UKB: All of my innovations are registered with the National Innovation Foundation, which is an autonomous body of the Department of science and technology, Government of India which in essence is a guarantee for innovations. Right now, all the innovations are in the process of getting patented. 7. As far as I have understood, your workshop, UKB Agrotech, gets assignments for specific innovations, from India as well as from abroad? How does it work? Do the clients give you specifics what they want and you deliver accordingly? How does it work businesswise? Once the machine is built, who has the patent, or the rights for commercial manufacturing? We want to know about the business aspect of the innovations? UKB: Clients approach me for work. In case of local people it happens through mails or telephones usually whereas in case of international assignments, I usually get mails. The clients tell me what they want or a particular issue that they are facing and I try to solve it. We supply the assignee with their expected innovation, whatever it may be within a specific time bar of maximum three months. The patent rights remain completely with me. 8. Talking about funds, if someone approaches you for a particular kind of machine, how do you decide the cost? How your clients fund you? UKB: Funds come from various assignments that I complete, and also from my own innovations and consultancy. I charge a fixed sum of Rs 48,000 for government organizations, Rs 24000 for private and for those who cannot afford to buy them, I give away my innovations for free. 9. You have been exceptionally prolific within a small set up, without much resources or manpower. Do you think you would be able to do better if you had better infrastructure, skilled manpower, and more funds? UKB: See, it is good to dream and imagine but then my philosophy is that - If I cannot solve local problems here, how the hell will I solve the problems of the globe ? I think the environment where I work now is conducive to my work. Yes, there might be a slight difference in the cost of raw materials like maybe five per cent or so but that is negligible. I am not bothered about that. Had I been in a big city like Guwahati the glamour wouldn’t have let me work as much as I work now. 10. You have mentioned about your dream project of building a mechanized toilet for the handicapped. Tell us more about it. How do you think it will help the handicapped? What are your plans to make the product popular and accessible? UKB: The physically disabled in most cases have to remain dependent on a lot of things throughout life and in many cases for very private things like dressing, using the toilet and for feeding themselves. I would consider this to be my proudest moment as a human being if I could come up with an innovation in terms of a wheel-chair which offers them all these benefits. The wheel chair will have a facility for automatic dressing and undressing of the person, attached toilet and flushing system. The chair is ready but I am still working on the certain aspects of this innovation like disposal of the waste. 11. You have been associated with IIT-Guwahati, among other institutes of technical education. Please tell us about it. UKB: I am associated with the IIT RUTAG(Rural Technological Action Group) , Guwahati and have developed two machines, a cocoon opener and a cotton lap cutting device for use by common people. A third machine, a manual areca nut bisector is under the works. Other than this, I am associated with various government and non-governmental organizations. I am resource scholar to many schools and colleges and I take classes of entrepreneurs in Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, Guwahati. 12. You conduct a three-month training programme for youngsters to help create a pool of skilled technicians (academic qualifications no bar!). Instead of charging them, you actually give them a stipend during the course. Tell use more about the course. Who can get trainings here? What do you teach? And how? How can these youngsters utilize this knowledge in the real world? Where do you get the funds to pay these youth from? UKB: As far as staff training goes, I have a scheme where irrespective of one’s educational qualification, a three month training programme is created and youngsters are trained and instead of charging them, a stipend of Rs 1000 is given to them. But there is a clause. The clause is that within these 3 months they must prove themselves worthy enough to earn at least 2000 rupees as a monthly salary from me. Students are put in real life training scenarios with the existing staff and that is how they get trained. Application of technology can be done by anyone irrespective of their background whether from science or arts background. 13. In January 2012, you have come up with a mini CTC tea plant (built within Rs 6 lakh), to help small-time tea growers. Please tell us more about it. UKB: Although it bears no similarity with big tea plant, it follows all established procedures of the big tea plant. This tea plant can produce up to 100 kg of tea every day with a power requirement of 2KW and a space of 14 feet by 20 feet. A Denmark based agency working for rural employment has already approached me for this plant and have assured me of logistical support to develop the plant. I hope to come up with the first of the market ready machines by 1st May 2012 after completing all legal formalities with the company. 14. Also, your cement concrete brick-making machine has created employment for at least 500 rural youths. Please tell us more about it. UKB: The concrete brick making machine can produce concrete bricks, hollow bricks, filler(lawn tiles) with cement, sand and small stone chips. No elaborate installation or operational skills required. The machine has an output capacity of one brick per minute and power consumption is only ½ hp. It is suitable for personal use as well as for use of an entrepreneur. It can also be operated by handicapped and blind people and orders have also been placed by the same. 15. Personally, how do you work? What motivates you? How much time do you take to complete a new innovation? Do you work on one particular machine at a time or there are several projects going on at the same time? UKB: I work up to four projects at a time. My motto is – If you cannot crack a problem within 48 hours you can never crack it. Some people may think that it is not possible to do dedicated work if I am working on four projects at the time, but actually I feel I work better this and my team also works better. Suppose, I have reached a barrier while trying to solve a problem, I move away and focus on another assignment. By the time, I again come to the earlier assignment, my mind is refreshed and I can have a go at the earlier problem much clearly. We deliver an innovation within a time period of three months. 16. After building 96 different machines, you have now at least 53 new assignments on your hand. What are these assignments about? UKB: Assignments keep flooding in but presently I am trying to extract carbon from fly ash which is a problem for a client and also working on developing a rolling table for small tea growers. I also have my dream projects in mind of removing iron and arsenic from drinking water in rural areas. 17. You have had your share of public recognition, at least in Assam, and to a certain extent in India. You were invited by President of India. Do tell us about it. Do you think these recognitions have helped you some way or the other in your goal to help people through your innovations? UKB: Yes, I have been fortunate enough to be recognised for my work. As I told you, I am a man who has risen from nothing. Initially it felt good because when I was recognized for my first innovation I couldn’t afford even hotel fare and I slept on the railway platform. But today, I see recognition in a slightly different way. Recognition connects you to the needy and helps bring the needy people to me and helps me to reach out to them. Some of the major innovations of Uddhab Bharali Among his numerous innovations are the remi-recortication machine, areca nut peeler which has found customers in Indonesia and Ethiopia, cassava peeler which has been bought in Kenya, pomegranate deseeder which has been exported to US and Turkey, garlic-peeling machine, tobacco-leaf cutter, paddy thresher, cane-stripping machine, brass utensil polishing machine, safed musli-peeling machine, jatropha de-seeder, mechanised weeding machine, passion fruit juice extractor, trench digger and a chopper for cattle and fisheries feed. He also designed a stevia pulveriser, multipurpose herbal dyer which retains the colours of the things put in them like tea, king chilli powder, turmeric or ginger and passion fruit gel extractor. His dreams I also dream of building an unconventional orphanage in my hometown where children will receive technical training to make them employable. Once they start earning a livelihood, they can focus on acquiring academic knowledge in history, mathematics, sociology and other important areas. Another dream is to set up an industrial village with a multi-specialty skill development centre for the manufacture of intermediary products. Most of all, I wants to equip senior citizens with technical skills to help them become self-reliant in old age. http://magazine.assamfoundation.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66:an-interview-with-uddhab-bharali&catid=4:sketches-of-life&Itemid=10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ সমাজৰ কাৰণে ভাল কাম কৰাজনৰ পৰিচয় ৰাইজৰ আগত দাঙি ধৰিব লাগে আৰু ভাল খবৰবোৰ যিমান পাৰি ৰাইজৰ মাজত বিলাব লাগে। ---- বুলজিৎ বুঢ়াগোহাঁই _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
