Owing to the popularity and significance of the concept, some engineering colleges are now planning to include it in their curriculum.
With the launch of the Tata Nano, the concept of ‘Gandhian engineering’ is catching up in the country’s engineering colleges.
The concept is to get more from fewer resources for more people — the same principle that was applied while designing the Nano.
Owing to the popularity and significance of the concept, some engineering colleges are now planning to include it in their curriculum.
Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), formerly the Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute, in Matunga is in the process of introducing the subject next year.
“There is so much to learn from Gandhian engineering,” said KG Narayankhedkar, VJTI director. “It gives a holistic approach to technology, which should be made available to all and not be restricted to a privileged few. It will not be introduced as a different subject, but will be added to the existing curriculum.”
The institute had invited RA Mashelkar, president of the Global Research Alliance, which has networks with over 60,000 scientists across the globe, and former head of the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research, to give a lecture on Tuesday.
Mashelkar, a Padma Bhushan awardee and international figure in the field of scientific and industrial research, spoke extensively on Gandhian engineering.
“All institutes in the country should teach students to innovate,” Mashelkar said. “The future isn’t about mechanical, computer, automobile engineering, but it’s about Gandhian engineering.”
Mashelkar said products like laptops should be built using fewer resources and made available to everybody at affordable prices. “A farmer who does not have access to technology creates his own products to fulfil his needs,” he said.
Mashelkar also showed a couple of videos on how complicated technology was being used by farmers and the common people. Mumbai University has set up a chair in Gandhian engineering, he said.
SS Sahare, Mumbai University’s dean of technology, said, “We are in the process of upgrading our syllabus almost every year. A new concept is always a welcome change.”
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