Centre for Rural Development and Technology

IIT Indore is the premier technology institute in Central India and is located in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Located in a historically backward state (as per HDI index and other government parameters), the institute has undertaken various activities during a decade of its establishment to support and facilitate the improvement of the various indices. Different research projects across various disciplines have focused on the challenges and problems of a largely rural population and worked with agencies to develop solutions to improve people’s quality of living. Apart from adopting two villages located adjacent to the institute, research projects in sustainability, water, sanitation, solid waste management, right to education, Governance have addressed some major issues with some success. Additionally, student groups such as Avana have collaborated with Government projects as Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) to develop innovative directions and strategies. The institute has now established The Centre for Rural Development and Technology (CRDT) to harness and coalesce all the efforts mentioned above with specific aims and objectives. The Centre will become a nodal hub for researchers, volunteers, practitioners, educators, and others to collaborate and facilitate rural empowerment and progress solutions.

VISION:

CRDT shall strive to facilitate empowering and enabling the Rural population to improve their living conditions by development and application of appropriate and people friendly technologies adopting participatory, sustainable, democratic, transparent and gender sensitive processes.

OBJECTIVES :

The Centre for Rural Development and Technology, IIT Indore, aims to work into the following broad areas:
• Skill development and training programs for needful/important sectors/stakeholders from various sectors
• Small scale entrepreneurship, sustainable cottage industries, development of value added products
• Access and Opportunities for Gender justice
• Developing user-friendly interfaces for launching e-platforms for various rural activities that require outreach to larger communities
• Evaluation and policy recommendations for government welfare schemes.
• Harnessing Forest products and helping rural entrepreneurs to develop and sell their products with easy access to technology
• Identifying gaps between skills and outreach and facilitating in filling that gap
• Outreach to NGOs, Govt organisations, International bodies such as UNICEF to have a broad-based approach
•Right to Education (RTE) Act- Efficacy and Outcomes
•Technology Development in Food Processing, Food Packaging and Food Storage