Jharkhand to Japan – a Labourer’s Daughter & a Farmer’s Son to Represent India at Science Congress

The group of Indians selected to represent India at the Japan-Asia Youth Exchange Program in Science (SAKURA Exchange Program in Science) this May, includes 15-year-old Pushpa Kumari from Bundu in Jharkhand and 16-year-old Anil Singh from Ramgarh.

These young innovators have come up with very creative ideas to solve different problems.

Source: Flickr

Pushpa, a student of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), has come up with a solution to fight infant malnutrition in India. She has developed an affordable baby food named Baal Amrit that costs just Rs. 59 per kilogramme and has all the essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients important for a baby. It is much cheaper than the branded baby food available in the market today. It is made of 15 food products including wheat, peanut, soya bean, basil and iodine salt.

Pushpa’s father is a casual labourer and she had not been to school till the age of 11 as she used to help her family in rearing cattle. She joined school only in Class 6. She was among the five students selected for the INSPIRE Award Scheme held at IIT-Delhi in December 2015. The state HRD department has decided to launch her product in the market.

“We will provide her with the required help. We are planning to first test the baby food in a few Anganwadi centres and then launch it in the market,” Aradhana Patnaik, secretary at school education and literacy department, told The Hindustan Times.

Anil is a farmer’s son who studies in Class 10 at Pindra’s Sramik High School in Topa, Jharkhand. He designed a model showing how coal mines could be used after extraction of coal from them by putting dust material under the earth. His model was also selected for INSPIRE award.

“I am a farmer and my wife is a housewife. We do not properly know what my son has done but we know he is going abroad for his good work. May god bless my son so that he can do good for the country,” said Anil’s father, Krishna Karmali.

Featured inset picture source: Hindustan Times

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