Mathura, 2018.03.13 (VT) As part of the Festival of Innovation, a Mathura school boy has been invited to have dinner with president Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi on 19th March. The honour is one of many accolades that Sikanto Mandal has received after he invented a garbage cart that is set to make the massive task of street cleaning a little easier.
Mandal has also had his photo taken with Akshay Kumar, along with 15 other student inventors and was invited to attend an all expenses innovators conference in Japan last year, however, he was unable to attend due to being under 16. Last year he also met CM Yogi Adityanath, who applauded the design.
A student of Jai Gurudev Sanstha School (which gives free education to under privileged children) Mandal could not raise the funds to build a model of the garbage collector he dreamed up. When he discussed his idea and the problem of funds with his teachers, they encouraged him to apply for the Inspire Awards by the Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India. The authorities were impressed by the young innovator’s design, selected his entry and awarded Rs 5,000 to him to build a model.
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The model was built from wood and scrap material such as old bicycle chains, but the design has now been picked up by Gujarat company, Sarjan Innovators Pvt Ltd, who is set to market a steel version of the collector @Rs10,500 (US$162) with royalties from the sales going to Mandal.
Mandal says that he wants to use the money to help his family. His brother is studying BSc at college, but has to work long hours at a factory to fund his own education. His father also works two jobs – at a factory and driving a rickshaw. To make matters worse, Mandal’s mother is bedridden and almost half of his father’s meager wages gets spent on paying rent. Mandal is hoping that the royalties from sales of the garbage cart will make their lives a little easier.
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