Students of Gujarat Technological University (GTU) will help Gujarat's tribal people enhance their skills and increase their knowledge pool.

During the recently concluded 'Shodh Yatra', students from engineering, management, pharmacy and polytechnic background took up the responsibility to help the locals of Panchmahals, Dangs, and Kutch region. According to vice-chancellor Akshai Aggarwal, GTU, one college from Dang district and four colleges from Panchmahals will serve the tribals and resolve their local problems.

“Students will work on projects such as solar powered lanterns in remote villages, multi storage water harvesting and extraction of oil from seeds with the help of machines,” said Hiranmay Mahanta, MD of Techpedia.in, who is actively supporting GTU's initiative.

The university recently formed an innovation council, which works with 20 Sankuls to promote industry-college innovations. In the first phase, 2.5 lakh students from different disciplines will be involved which will directly affect 34,500 micro industries and help the workers cope up with their problems. There are 37,000 engineering students, 6,800 B Pharma students, 12,000 management students and 4,900 MCA students participating in the initiative across the state.

During the first visit to the industries, the students learnt about the problems faced in running the organisation. And in the second step the student from 495 colleges under GTU will have to submit a report on it. Once the students are aware of the problems, they will work towards the solutions and accordingly innovate methods for bettering the condition. The highlight of the 'Shodh Yatra' is the social connect of these students with the ethnic communities of the Dangs, Panchmahals and Kutch region.

"Apart from industries, students have identified many other areas where they can use their knowledge in improving the lives of the tribal communities," Aggarwal said. During the shodh yatra, students found that there is an urgent need to have machines for extracting oil and seeds from herbs and medicinal plants.

Students also identified the need to develop a machine to extract
'Charoli' seed and oil from its fruit.

Other projects include layered water harvesting in Panchmahals district and solar powered lanterns for remote areas of Kutch. "Students will innovate the machines and make it available to the tribals. We are also planning to consider patterns and seek for financial help from business houses and capital venture providers," added Aggarwal. "Technology has done very little for the society; we can not turn a deaf ear to the problems of the common man living in remote areas," stated Aggarwal.