THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ajay Balachandran, hailing from Ottapalam in Palakkad, has been paralysed from the waist down after he met with a road accident 14 years ago. Since then, he has been confined to a wheelchair. Being quadriplegic, Ajay had his share of difficulties. However, he was determined to do something useful for society. After attending the Innovation by Youth with Disabilities (I-YwD) programme by the Kerala Development and Strategic Innovation Council (K-DISC), he started working on his dream.
Though Ajay was working on a biodiesel project, he dropped the idea after realising that the project wasn’t feasible. He then started working on another project, an assistive technology device that would help people enhance their limited mobility. It was done in collaboration with Shankar S, another participant who has cerebral palsy and is confined to crutches after meeting with a tragic accident.
“We thought of coming up with the assistive device as we know the difficulties faced by people with limited mobility. Currently, we are working on the prototype which will be completed in a few months,” says Ajay. Maneesh Raj, a mechanical engineer from Varkala is providing them with technical support. Fahiz Mohammad, a visually impaired person, is also working on an innovative project for travellers which will also be launched soon.
The pilot programme of I-YWD was launched in 2019. The programme implemented by the National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) has been helping differently-abled youth to explore their talents.
Highlighting the concept of the initiative, Shakeela K T, assistant programme manager of K-DISC, says, “In 2018, when we introduced the Young Innovators Programme, it wasn’t inclusive for children with disabilities. So, the next year we thought of launching a project exclusively for differently-abled people. Out of the 195 applications, 19 were selected for further training.” K-DISC also supports the youth by funding their project, added Shakeela.
The process includes training in innovation and entrepreneurship, customised learning and also providing networking opportunities with a mentor or domain experts. “The entire programme is designed to make it accessible and relevant to differently-abled youth. The programme prepares each participant to develop their idea and see it to fruition. In the pilot phase, about 19 participants aged between 15 and 40 were trained to develop their innovations through offline sessions,” Avaneesh, project coordinator of I-YwD said. “Since no such programme was conducted before in the state, we had to plan everything from scratch. This year, training will be held online. Live sessions will also be provided if needed,” added Avaneesh.
How to apply
People who are a resident of Kerala and have a valid disability certificate issued by the Kerala government can register by sending an SMS/WhatsApp “IYWD” to 6238848716 or email to iywd@nish.ac.in. The last date for applying is August 20.