Detailed Overview of the AKRUTI Programme and Its Collaboration with BARC

AKRUTI Programme is in operation for 18 years under DAE-Societal initiative for encouraging entrepreneurship among technically oriented educated human resource, in rural and interior areas, by sharing the knowhow of societal spin-off DAE- BARC Technologies. AKRUTI is an acronym for Advanced Knowledge and RUrban Technology Implementation initiative. This programme has potential to generate the essential facilities in interior areas which are generally only available in cities and provide livelihoods for youth in their native place without migrating to urban areas. Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in the year 2007has launched DAE-Societal Initiative for utilization of Non-Power Applications (NPAs) and Spin-off technologies in the area of water, agriculture, food processing and agri-land improvement through urban and rural waste management. Within this frame work, the structured program called "AKRUTI” has been formulated by BARC, Trombay, Mumbai. AKRUTI Programme demonstrates the usefulness of BARC technologies for rural and urban sector leading to societal benefit at an affordable price. Technically oriented human resource in rural and urban sector can deploy technologies for their use under the guidance of BARC Scientist and Engineers. This programme has potential to encourage techno-preneurship based on DAE- BARC Technologies and provides livelihoods for villages in village itself. AKRUTI Programme implementation will be done through ‘AKRUTI Kendra’ to create structured and scalable network of DAE-BARC based RUrban Technology and to provide easy access to modern technologies to all Rural and Urban Sectors. Kendra will be the first point of contact with DAE-BARC for budding entrepreneurs for registering their firm and applying for commercialization of license for BARC technologies. AKRUTI Kendras are technology Display, Dissemination, Demonstration and Training Centres. BARC will grant a non-commercial, non-exclusive revocable license to run the AKRUTI Kendra and to train the budding entrepreneurs. The AKRUTI Kendra can promote all BARC technologies, provided it deputes faculty and instructors having the domain knowledge and arranges required machinery, consumables, and instruments within its campus. AKRUTI Kendra enroll members (herein after called KRUTIK) from local population and other people interested to gain knowledge. It will be a training centre for technologies with non-commercial license, and production centre for commercial licensed technologies. KRUTIK members work under its umbrella by manufacturing the products, either using resources of AKRUTI Kendra or in village and sell it on the strength of commercial license obtained by the AKRUTI Kendra.