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Anil Gupta |
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Anil Gupta |
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Redefining policy landscape for grassroots innovations |
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| Abstract |
After realizing the tension between serving a privileged and well-endowed class vis-à-vis disadvantaged creative people from the informal sector, it was decided in 2004 to focus entirely on the informal sector. |
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"he Honey Bee Network has pursued many experiments to bring about an inclusive development while leveraging creative ideas
of common people. In the process, some of these experiments required changes in the public policies for serving grassroots innovators. When National Innovation Foundation was set up by the Honey Bee Network in 2000, we began an experiment of including innovations for grassroots apart from innovations from grassroots. Within two to three years, we realized our mistake. The professionals could bring a lot of pressure on the NIF, pursue more vigorously through telephone and emails whereas, the farmers, artisans, and mechanics in majority of the cases could not do so. We also realized that the constraints faced by both the segments of society were quite different. The professionals had access to formal institutions, networks of other professionals, much higher technical and financial resources besides access to many public S&T funding programmes. The grassroots innovators coming from the bottom of the economic pyramid lacked such access to similar resources and networks. For them, NIF was the only institution providing support at their doorsteps.
India was the first country which included grassroots innovations as an integral part of national innovation system. After realizing the tension between serving a privileged and well-endowed class vis-à-vis disadvantaged creative people from the informal sector, it was decided in 2004 to focus entirely on the informal sector. It was clarified that grassroots innovations emerging from the community in informal sector will only be targeted for support henceforth. The focus brought clarity and a single-minded devotion to the cause of serving knowledge rich, economically poor people. Over a period of time, economic conditions were not kept in view while critically evaluating the innovations and traditional knowledge at community level. For instance, there were economically well-endowed plantation farmers who had developed a new variety of cardamom or pepper but generally lacked the access to formal R&D system. Within informal sector, distinctions were not made, though those who had past experience in the formal sector were generally excluded from the awards. The purpose was to recognize, respect, and reward the creative communities from the unorganized and informal sectors in rural and urban areas. The impact of such focus was that more and more efforts were put in to search such creative people who had solved a problem through their own genius.
SRISTI which had developed the model of scouting and documenting and valorizing grassroots innovations, decided to share its own database of traditional knowledge practices and grassroots innovations with NIF. The model of GIAN set up in 1997 was scaled up while setting up NIF. The linkage between innovation, enterprise became the prime mover of the grassroots innovation movement. It was realized that not all innovations need to be disseminated through commercial channels. There were many ideas which were easily copiable and belong to DIY [Do it yourself] category. Such ideas were shared openly during Shodhyatras and other interactions with the community.
The support from professionals was very vital for leveraging grassroots innovations for wider applications and social use. Since awards were given by Hon’ble President of India, it was all the more necessary to maintain the honour and integrity of the award. Through formal and informal cooperation with ICAR, ICMR and public and private universities/labs, grassroots innovations were tested for validating the claims of the innovators. In some years, as many as 200 labs were engaged for validating the claims of farmers, mechanics, herbal healers, pastoralists, artisans, etc. Thanks to the social capital of Honey Bee Network, none of the scientists claimed any compensation for their contribution. In many cases, they didn’t even charge for consumables. This was an extraordinary contribution of the formal R&D system towards the growth and development of informal grassroots innovations. Similarly, a large number of very reputed intellectual property firms contributed their services without charging for their time, not only in India but also USA. Thus, the linkage between formal and informal R&D system was quite robust, vibrant and functional in taking grassroots ideas forward.
With the passage of time, the policies and institutional designs might change but neither the history nor the evolutionary lessons of Honey Bee Network institutions can be erased. We had the privilege of working with four Presidents of India. Bharat Ratna Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, gave the widest visibility and guidance to the grassroots innovations movement. He will directly pick up the phone and call to find out latest ideas and innovations to be referred in his forthcoming speeches at various public functions. The energy and enthusiasm with which he mentored the Honey Bee Network during and after his Presidency is a memorable and precious legacy of the movement. Mrs. Pratibha Patil was so impressed with the innovation exhibition organized in the premises of IARI that she announced there itself that she would like to have the exhibition at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. She wanted the common people who came to see Moghul Garden in Rashtrapati Bhawan to get inspired by the exhibition. Shri. Pranab Mukherjee, the next President of India took the movement to the next level and converted the exhibition into Festival of Innovations (FOIN) from 2015-2017. We had Nobel Laureate, Prof. Mohammed Yunis as the distinguished guest in the first Festival and Francis Gury, Director General of WIPO in the last Festival in 2017. He started several other initiatives such as Scholars-in-Residence, Inspired Teachers, Innovation Exhibition in Rashtrapati Bhawan besides the Festival. The current President Hon’ble Shri. Ram Nath Kovind converted the Festival of Innovations into Festival of Innovations and Entrepreneurship (FINE). Eventually the Festival was decentralized to be held in different states instead of Rashtrapati Bhawan. Having stepped down as Executive Vice Chair from NIF in 2018, my formal role also came to an end. It is possible to build upon the legacy of the unique grassroots innovations movement of India to a new height or dilute the focus on grassroots innovators and make it open for all. Once that happens, the attention towards the creative and disadvantaged people may go down till somebody else recognizes the need to focus on the knowledge rich, poor people again. I hope that all the innovators and volunteers of Honey Bee Network will continue to provide support to the new team as ever.
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Honey Bee, 30(2) ,3-4, 2019 |
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