Guwahati: Growth is a wonderful thing, and its benefits should be reaped by everyone. Unfortunately, in a country as large as ours, with needs and circumstances as diverse, it is a major challenge to bring everyone into the folds of growth. In such a situation, it becomes our responsibility to ensure that growth does not become a prerogative to certain sections of the society. To do our part and as a part of Techniche’s ‘Initiatives’ module students of IIT Guwahati, have launched a village adoption program ‘Pragati- Growth for everyone’ on January 26th, 2015, in ‘Latiya Bagicha’ (a village near IIT Guwahati) aimed to bring an improvement in the lives of the residents of the village.

As a part of ‘Pragati’, “Siksha” was launched to provide the elementary education to the village children. They are being taught elementary subjects like basic arithmetic, natural sciences and other moral principles of life. These classes are being conducted every Friday and Saturday. Moreover, the residents of the village are being educated in the following areas:

1) Causes of diseases and preventive measures

2) Women’s issues

3) Effect of tobacco and drinking

4) Drug abuse and illicit trafficking

5) Importance of sanity

6) Providing knowledge about government policies and acts which affect them and other general topics

The lives of these people are improving every day, and a few NGOs have also come forward to participate in this program, but for an effective change, everyone needs to lend a helping hand and turn their efforts into a success.

As a part of Pragati, students of IIT Guwahati have also taken up a rural street lighting initiative ‘Prakash’ under ‘Pragati’, to install street lights which work on solar power, which is both ecological and economic. The street lights were successfully installed in ‘Latiya Bagicha’ on 7th March 2015 (Saturday) after the residents were educated regarding the use of these lights and their maintenance.

Techniche, the annual Techno-Management Festival of IIT Guwahati is going to witness its 17th edition in September 2015. From its humble beginning in 1999, Techniche has grown to become one of the premier Techno-Management festivals of the nation. The festival is growing by leaps and bounds every day and the team expects that they have a very bright future ahead.