Name : Nishant Ray
District & State : Khagaria, Bihar
Category : Agricultural (General)
Award : Consolation
Award Function : 5th National Grassroots Innovation Awards
Award Year : 2009
Innovation Description
- Award Status
- IPR Status
Hailing from Khagaria, a small town in Bihar surrounded by seven rivers, Nishant Ray (27) is a passionate innovator with a fertile mind that has spawned several innovations. Undeterred by discouragement and the criticism faced, he has always pursued his proclivity. He has made a modified gear system for rickshaws/bicycles to reduce effort in pulling the load.
A creative childhood
Born to Prakash Chandra Yadav and Puspa Devi on 28th February 1983, he was drawn towards science since childhood. His father runs a watch repairing shop while his mother is a housewife. On one hand, he defied the boundaries of conventional science by activities like model making, testing gadgets, while, on the other hand he picked up interest in fine arts, music and poetry.
har manjil ko jaane waale rasten kai honge, magar wo rasta jo yah ahsas dilay ki mazaa manzil me nahin raste ke daramyan hai, chune gaye sabon me wahi sahi honga
(A number of roads may lead to a destination but the best road to take is the one, which makes you feel the importance of journey itself more than the destination)
He explored a variety of books ranging from technical to science magazines and journals. Growing up he developed a wide range of innovations. Starting with something as elementary as a pencil, he redesigned it so as to retrofit a sharpener and a rubber inside a cap fitted to the pencil top. Using rubber bands, he made a small timer device when he was only seven. By the time, he reached class eight, he had been playing with electronic instruments- motors, dynamos and the like. Next, he developed a simple device to clean the food grains by removing all the stones and other undesired particles, by using vacuum pressure in custom designed chambers. He has nurtured his passion through his limited resources which middle-class upbringing could afford. After graduating in arts, he is preparing for MCA and other competitive examinations.
The call of compassion
Nishant was touched by the effort put in by the rickshaw-pullers when they had to pedal uphill with a heavy load. They had to struggle on bumpy roads or on uneven terrains. In existing ratchet arrangement in cycle rickshaws, one rotation of foot pedal necessitates two full revolutions of the cycle wheel. Many a time the rickshaw would roll backwards and the puller would laboriously try to push it uphill, often annoying the passenger for the delay in the ordeal. He wanted to help them and hence, he started searching for solutions to reduce the drudgery of rickshaw-pullers. Nishant decided to make a unit with gear system, which could be retrofitted to a cycle or rickshaw and succeeded in developing the first rudimentary model in 2007 in plastic. This consisted of a main wheel with pedaling unit, two freewheels and a spring loaded clutch unit activated by pulling the clutch wire.