BHUBANESWAR: Odisha’s Kuni Dehury, a master silk reeler, and IIT-Bhubaneswar won great praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their innovations in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio programme on Sunday. While 35-year-old Kuni from a nondescript Kardapal village in Keonjhar earned the praise for using solar power to train women of the district in reeling silk threads, the team of IIT Bhubaneswar was commended for developing a portable ventilator that runs on battery and can be used easily in remote areas.
Working at the Bhagamunda Silk Park as a master reeler and weaver, Kuni set up a centre in her village two months back where she is training 50 local women in producing silkworm eggs and yarn from silk cocoons. At the Park, she has already trained over 1,000 women so far in silk reeling using Unnatti machines that run on solar power.
“We have around 250 reeling machines here that are not just technologically advanced but also run on solar power. This cuts down on electricity costs and is profitable compared to the traditional thigh silk reeling method,” said Kuni.
Elated with the Prime Minister’s mention of her efforts, Kuni said she plans to procure the machines for her centre in Kardapal village soon. Youngest among six siblings, Kuni started learning silk reeling at the age of 12 in the Bhagamunda Tassar Rearers’ Cooperative Society. “My father died when I was just 12, and suddenly we had to struggle for even two meals a day. My mother used to work as a farm labourer at tassar farms to maintain our family,” she said, adding she gave up on education to join the society to supplement her family income.
Kuni has been awarded the Best Reeler Award 2014-15 by the Ministry of Textiles.IIT-Bhubaneswar developed a portable ventilator to fight Covid-19, but it has progressed to greater utilities. The device can be used to save lives of premature newborns as well. It was conceived and manufactured by MM Mahapatra and his team comprising JG Thakare, Arabinda Meher, Bivudatta Mohanty and Umesh Melkani from the School of Mechanical Sciences two years back.
“The ventilator runs on battery and can be used easily in remote areas. This can prove helpful in saving the lives of babies who are born prematurely,” said the Prime Minister hailing the innovation.