Name : Sakrabhai Kallubhai Bhariya
District & State : Dahod, Gujarat
Category : Herbal products
Award : Appreciation
Award Function : 4th National Grassroots Innovation Awards
Award Year : 2007
Innovation Description
Background
Sakrabhai (80) comes from a small village of Dahod district, Gujarat. The population is around 300 and mostly indulging in agricultural activities, animal rearing and working as daily wage labourers. Sakrabhai is an illiterate farmer and grows rice and pulses in the 2.5 acres of land he owns, used for self-sustenance. His son who works as a daily wager in Ahmedabad economically supports the family. He also has a few cattle heads whose products are utilized for domestic consumption only.As a child, he started to learn by observing his father practicing herbal medicines. His interest to develop medications for animals started to grow and by 18 years of age, he was already giving medicines. He distinctly remembers the very first case of curing prolapse, where he failed and the guilt of it made him work harder. This hard work over so many of years has paid dividends now in terms of social recognition when even the elders in the village compliment him by saying, “Janavar ne kayi pan bimari thay, aane par Sakrabhai hath muki de to janavar saju thayi jay”1.Since he does not charge any money for his services, people respect him more. Sakrabhai also feels that his social status has increased in the society due to this contribution. However, since his economic condition is not sound sometimes his family objects to this `social service’. Sakrabhai’s formulations for bloat are being tested upon in the College of Veterinary Science, Mumbai and a proposal to work on them has been submitted for TePP funding from the Government of India. He participated in the Inventors of India workshop at IIM, Ahmedabad in October 2006 where he felt very happy to interact with fellow innovators. He also participated in the Regional Workshop for Herbal Healers at Bhavnagar in December 2006 where the healers interacted with scientists and discussed the possibilities of product development. Mr. Sakarabhai suggests that there should be a garden of medicinal plants containing information regarding its name along with its medicinal properties so that the people can use it.
http://nif.org.in/innovation/traditional-livestock-healer/379