SYSTEM

EMPOWERMENT OF THE DISPLACED

REQUIREMENT

There are several people in India who make a living with manual labour like porters, load carriers, goods loaders, cycle rickshaw pullers etc. The only skill these people possess is ‘manual effort’ as a method of living. One of this class of people is the cycle rickshaw pullers, Cycle rickshaw pullers in India help move people in at very low costs.

The cycle rickshaws are plied on the same roads used by cars, vans, motor cycles etc. The cycle rickshaws though providing a vital service became a hindrance for free flow of other motor vehicle traffic due to their low speeds and response time. The slow movement hinders traffic and causes traffic jams, The only choice to avoid jams was to ban the cycle rickshaw, the ban led to displacement and unemployment for this class of people. The displaced persons had no alternative opportunity of earning a living as they had very limited or ZERO skills for any other occupation. Keeping in view of this problem a equipment was designed to re-empower them with their only skill and strengths to match or surpass their daily earnings.

A simple pedalling and charge system for a hawkers lighting system was innovated. The system helped in charging about 18 hawkers light sets. These light sets were hired on a rental basis to street hawkers. The rent exceeded their daily earning with a provision to repay any borrowings that could be made to buy such a system.

A simple human pedal system was developed ensuring that the system can be used in any location without electricity, solar option was ruled out due to issues of theft and safety if mounted on their small huts or dwellings.

TARGET AREA / POPULATION

The target area for this system is Rickshaw pullers and similar population depending on manual labor for a living.

INNOVATION and DESIGN FACTOR

The innovation factor in the system are ;

• Innovation factor was development of a very easy to use generator and with ultra-low load factor for pedalling.

• Design a system to store the generated power efficiently and also provide bright light output with low consumption.

• Provide long trouble free unskilled self-serviceable parts in the whole system.

ROAD AHEAD

To extend this concept for several other similar class of displaced people.