GUWAHATI:
Meghalaya’s cab driver Gautam Gurung won the Dinanath Pandey Smart Idea Innovation Award, here on February 12.
Gurung was awarded for his innovation ‘Automatic Car Sanitiser’ model which he exhibited at the two-day Innovation Festival at Regional Science Centre here on February 11 and 12.
Gurung, who had to face a lot of hardship during the Covid-19 pandemic, came up with the mechanism which he installed in his Maruti Alto.
As per this mechanism, when a passenger opens the door, sanitisers are sprayed automatically on the seats and indoors.
“I keep trying to do new things as the pandemic was a difficult phase for all of us. As cleanliness is part and parcel of our life, I came up with this idea that will keep us clean and hygienic. This will also make the passengers happy,” said Gurung, displaying his model.
Gurung dedicated the award to his parents.
The award was instituted by the family of Dinanath Pandey who was a master innovator and tried to change everyday life through his innovations.
Altogether, 32 innovators from North East and West Bengal participated in the two-day exhibition. The participants displayed their innovative devices.
“We are thankful to the Regional Science Centre, Guwahati for providing us with the place to conduct the event. I also thank all the innovators for joining the festival wholeheartedly and boosting our morale,” said Sailen Pandey, son of Dinanath Pandey.
Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission (ASRLM) director Krishna Baruah was present as the chief guest and K Raka Sudhakar Rao, a social activist, journalist, public speaker and author from Hyderabad was present as guest of honour during the prize distribution ceremony on Sunday evening.
Project coordinator of the Regional Science Centre, Guwahati Sujay Das and scientist of the National Innovation Foundation, Assam Dr Rajiv Mili were also present on the occasion.
The ‘Innovation Festival’, which was organised by Indian Council for Science Museum in collaboration with National Innovation Foundation (NFI), provides a common platform to the people of all the North East states working in different fields such as innovators, artists, performers, crafters and science-demonstrators among others showcasing their creativity.