1 | P a g e

GYANSAGAR, NIT SILCHAR

Since the time of existence of civilization whatever man has created, he conceived the idea

from its surrounding. The idea of social engineering comes into mind from the simple fact that as a social animal one cannot expect to grow unless the surrounding is apt for the same. Gyansagar is a society service wing of NIT Silchar volunteered by the students of institute which is encouraged and approved by Prof. (Dr) N.V.Deshpander, Director, NIT Silchar. Since last four years, Gyansagar has put its effort towards the development of the society. The development is in terms of general education, IT education, agricultural awareness, health awareness, job-opportunity awareness, exploring the inherent qualities of kids in villages, etc.

Gyansagar was started in the year 2009 by a group of students led by Mr. Aditya Choudhary, an electrical engineering 2012 pass-out student from NITS. Since then, it has taken huge leaps to become a social organization which benefits the nearby villages and communities near NIT Silchar. It had been headed by the dynamic leadership of Prof. (Dr) A. K. Sil, Professor, Department of Chemistry, NIT Silchar, since its establishment. Recently, during the month of September, 2013, the headship was handed over to Dr Kedar Nath Das, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, NIT silchar.

The various activities of Gyansagar are being carried out smoothly due to the consistent effort of the chief student coordinators Mr. Nitish Rajpurohit and Mr Mukesh Swarup. We have around 250 student volunteers with coverage of 7 villages, reaching out to more than 500 village kid students. Undoubtedly, the

whole hearted support of the student community of NIT Silchar is highly appreciated. The ongoing activities with its broad domain are represented in the figure (cycle).

2 | P a g e

Activities organized by Gyansagar, NIT Silchar (during 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2014)

Gyansagar aims at creating a difference in the lives of children and people of nearby

villages through quality education, awareness programs and courses that brings them at par with the national level of education. This year Gyansagar witnessed a lot of events and programs that transformed lives of people who enrolled for it. Dr. Kedar Nath Das, the Head of Gyansagar, played a crucial role in organizing all these activities. The major activities are listed below.

1st April 2013 to 31st March 2014

Education Outreach Program

It started from initial

efforts of the founder Mr Aditya Choudary (an Ex-student of NIT Silchar) since 2009. The village outreach program today covers seven villages and reaches out to around 500 students. The villages included at present are Babu Tilla, Madhu Tilla, Tambu Tilla, Sadhu Tilla , Fakir Tilla, Bel Tilla, Borakhai Teagarden.

Our team of about 250 volunteers goes to these villages on every weekend to contribute to their knowledge development. Initial resistance of the villagers has worn out after looking the enthusiasm of our volunteers to teach and of the students to learn. Hence, it has been going on for five years now. Apart from the villages, the educational outreach program also takes place in the Lower Primary School of our NIT campus where girl student-volunteers to teach on weekends.

3 | P a g e

JULY-DEC 2013:

NITS-CIT (National Institute of Technology

Certificate in Information Technology):

In today’s world in which the need to possess basic computer skills is becoming extremely

crucial, Gyansagar decided to adopt a course of computers in which all essential basics of

computers were taught to a batch of 85 students comprising of college staff, working adults

as well as people from distant villages who had never before touched a computer. Over a

period of three months an extremely dedicated team of volunteers from our college

developed the course framework under the guidance of coordinators and taught on those

lines for three hours every weekend. After assessment, those who had performed well were

awarded a certificate on the NITS-CIT Convocation Day on 19th January 2014 and it was

indeed a very proud moment for all of us.

10th March 2013

BALKALAKAR (in collaboration with ISAC)

Under this event competitions like dance, drawing, games etc were organized for the

village children. And at last prizes were distributed to encourage them.

4 | P a g e

5th Jan 2014:

PRAYAS

In collaboration with Paarban (a management

fest of Department of Management of NIT Silchar),

Prayas was organized which witnessed participation of

four hundred village kids from various nearby villages of

Babu tilla, Madhu tilla, Tambu tilla, Sadhu tilla, Fakir

tilla, Bel tilla etc. The kids were involved in a lot of

activities like drawing competition, dance competition, craft models competition and the

best works were put in the exhibition stall from where some brilliantly made models were

sold and the kids were awarded with the money. On the Convocation Day of NITS-CIT, the

winners of Prayas were also showered with gifts, prize money and certificates to appreciate

them and boost their confidence.

5 | P a g e

26th Jan 2014

Kite Fest on

Republic Day:

For the first time ever in NIT Silchar,

Kite festival was organized in NIT

Silchar and all the village kids that

came to witness were also made a

part of the celebration. A lot of colorful kites adorned the sky of NIT Silchar on that day.

Students and faculty members have also participated in this festival.

6 | P a g e

16th Feb 2014

Clothes Donation

Camp

Like every year, this year also Clothes

Donation Camp was organized in campus

many times and around 800 units of clothes

were donated to villagers of nearby villages. A dedicated team of volunteers worked

extremely hard to make this camp a success.

7 | P a g e

9th March 2014

One day workshop

on “Design and

Innovation”

On 9th of March, Gyansagar in collaboration with TEGIP-II organized a workshop on Design

and Innovation by Professor M.P Ranjan and A. K Gogoi. India

needs design today across all 230 sectors of our economy. They

discussed various issues and perspectives that can contribute to a

better understanding of these opportunities. After all, design is a

powerful force that shapes culture and is beneficial for

communities and businesses alike. Prof. M.P Ranjan for National

Institute of Design, Ahmedabad has worked for years to study the

design prospects with the use of Bamboo by visiting many local

development sites in North-East and shared valuable insights with

us. On the other hand, Professor A.K

Gogoi from IIT Guwahati shared his

insights from his intensive research

work on Systems Design.

8 | P a g e

29th and 30th March 2014

Two days Exhibition Workshop on “Miniature Engineering Working Models” of

Guinness book of World Record Holder Mr. Iqbal Ahmed

Gyansagar organized this two days exhibition workshop in

collaboration with Mechanical Engineering Department of NIT

Silchar. Mr I. Ahmed had never heard of ‘model engineering’

but through observation

and his own

experimental learning he

was able to create

miniature working models of steam engine and boiler,

brass lathe with electrical motor, 4 cylinder internal

combustion engine and several milling machines. His

work was inspiring not only for all those who are

pursuing a course on mechanical engineering but for others as well. Around 700 delegates

including students, faculty members and kids of NIT Silchar and nearby Universities and

schools, were participated.

9 | P a g e

28th Mar 2014

Smokeless chulha under

Gyansagar R&D NIT

SILCHAR

Introduction: A Chulha (stove) conceptualized by

Philips Design to provide a healthy or smoke free kitchen for the village society. It is 4 times more efficient in terms fuel and 2 times more efficient in terms of time over traditional chulha. Hence it can save millions of life and fix environmental issues to save a huge amount of fuel (wood), a primary cause of deforestation.

Mission: Reaching the village home kitchen to replace the killer inside the kitchen

(traditional chulha) by the smokeless chulha which makes home smoke free and hence protect the women and children to the health diseases caused by smoke.

Under Gyansagar R&D 25 very enthusiast and dedicated members have taken the initiative of Smokeless chulha to manufacture and install the chulha at village homes. Team is also working to improve the model given by Philips Design to improve the chulha efficiency.