Visit to UNNATI MAHOTSAV & EXPO
17th - 18th March 2023
Dr. Anupam Dalal ( NSS Coordinator) along with 3rd Year students of branch CSE(AIML) namely(Utkarsh Gupta (23248), Pranav Gupta (23198),Sanchit Goel (23240), Milan Kumar (23229)) from Dronacharya College of Engineering, Gurugram attended the UNNATI” Mahotsav & Expo on 17th - 18th March, 2023 at IIT Delhi. National Program for Demonstration and Dissemination of selected Technologies of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan Institutions is organized by UBA (a flagship program of Ministry of Education, GOI).
"UNNATI" (Unnat Bharat Abhiyan Networking for National Atmanirbhar Technological Intervention) Mahotsav & Expo in collaboration with Vijnana Bharti and YOJAK was organized in the spirit of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India.
Unnat Bharat Abhiyan envisions a transformation in the rural development processes by leveraging knowledge institutions to help build the architecture of an inclusive India. The program was initiated in the year 2014. The theme of the expo was “Water and Sanitation for village development with students and faculties.”
Day – 1
Dr. Subhas Sarkar (Minister of State for Education, Government of India) inaugurated two-day ‘UNNATI’ Mahotsav & Expo. The program began with lighting of the lamp and an introduction about Unnat Bharat Abhiyan & UNNATI by Prof. V.K. Vijay (National Coordinator, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, IIT Delhi.) Appreciating the “UNNATI” Mahotsav and Expo initiative, Dr. Subhas Sarkar, said “Unnat Bharat Abhiyan envisages evolving a system by which the Higher Educational institutes adopt a cluster of villages (panchayats) each and gradually expand the outreach over a period of time. Under the programme, the Higher Learning Institutes will carry out studies of living conditions in adopted villages, assess the technological needs, livelihood generation, infrastructural requirements for a quality life in those areas, and then, utilizing their knowledge, prepare workable action plans for the selected areas that connect to the NEP 2020 vision.
After the enlightened speech of Dr. Subhas Sarkar, UNNATI Technology Demonstration started and website of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan was launched. Many informative presentations were given regarding unheard problems faced in rural areas like “Artisan and Livelihood Theme: Discussion/Presentation on Technologies” & “Energy Theme: Discussion/Presentation on Technologies” were demonstrated in the Expo by various institutions.
Sh. Harsh Chouhan (Chairman, NCST) was invited as the keynote speaker. He emphasized on the effective participation of students in the program, he was of the view that youth is the future, and it is important that the students understand the ground reality and know the culture, which lies in villages. He emphasized that the UBA has been able to bring empathy among students and teachers about rural reality which is important for society and drive solutions with the participation of the community. He emphasized that society believe in self-respect and empowering instead of getting free things in charity. Therefore, efforts should be made to empower our youth and the initiative program is powerful tool in that direction.
First day ended with a Special Talk by Prof. Vara Prasad (Kansas State University.)
Day - 2
On the second day, discussions and presentations by some of the institutes took place. The themes for the discussion and presentation were Water, Sanitation and Basic Amenities. The technologies demonstrated in the workshop were the result of the regional level technology fairs organized by the Regional Coordinating Institutes under the scheme. The technologies were identified on the basis of the survey conducted by the students in the villages, wherein through the survey the problems were identified and the solutions in form of technologies were prepared.
Prof. V.K. Vijay, Professor at IIT Delhi and National Coordinator, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, presented the brief progress of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan and explained the concept of UNNATI which focuses on the technology demonstration and the process for technology dissemination.
Panel Discussion on Technology Dissemination was conducted by the following delegates - FICCI Representative, FISS – Director, CSIR - NISPR – Director, Pinaki Das Gupta (Assocham), Atal Innovation Mission Representatives from Village community (Gram Sarpanch), Prof. P.V. M. Rao – IIT Delhi, Sandeep Sathe - YOJAK Center for Research and Strategic Planning for Sustainable Development.
Day 2 ended with the distribution of certificates and Vote of Thanks by Prof. Pooja Ghosh, RCI Coordinator, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, IIT Delhi. Students and faculty members benefitted from the program in understanding the real life challenges in society and providing appropriate technical, social, and management solutions.
Everyone gained a lot of knowledge and information about the rare as well as common fields like energy, water, agriculture, etc. which would surely contribute to better future of the nation.