New Delhi, Aug 29 (KNN) The National Institute for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) is organizing 2^nd edition of Rural Innovators Startup Conclave (RISC) on August 30-31 at NIRDPR, Hyderabad to better rural life with the aid of technology and innovations.

The two-day conclave aims to identify rural innovations and startups and create a platform to provide exposure, education and capacity building besides mentoring and incubation for rural startups and hand hold innovations, NIRDPR said in a statement.

It said, the conclave has attracted over 300 participants from 23 states and will be inaugurated by Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu in the presence of Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana ESL Narasimhan and Union Minister for Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar, among others.

RISC2018 will bring together the most forward-thinking innovators, incubators, entrepreneurs and technology players to unlock new potentials in seven identified sectors-Agriculture & Allied Activities, Green Energy, Waste To Wealth, Sustainable Housing, Health & Elderly Care, Drinking Water & Sanitation and Sustainable Livelihood.

The event will be attended by representatives from industries, academia, government, non-government organizations, and most importantly entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors and others.

NIRDPR Director General W R Reddy said, "This conclave is very unique in that it is focused exclusively on rural startups and is a great opportunity for rural startups to scale up their ideas and products and technology and take it to the mass market with a focus on addressing the rural issues." 

Besides, this conclave will provide a platform to wide range of budding ideas, rural innovators and aspirant startups to showcase their design ideas, innovations, technology, pitch and talk about their innovation and get an opportunity for learning and mentoring support, it was stated. 

At the event, the Vice President will launch the "Improved Hydraulic compressed Mud Block Making Machine" which is designed and developed by NIRDPR in collaboration with Annapurna Cottage Industries. 

The productivity of mud block making can be increased by 4-5 times using this newly developed machine compared to the manually operated machine and it can help in production of these eco-friendly bricks right at the building construction sites, the statement said. 

"As the cost of the machine is comparable to the manually operated machines available in the market, it can give a fillip to the production of these bricks by local entrepreneurs especially women self-help groups for promoting sustainable housing initiatives," it said. 

In addition, a compendium on "Gram Panchayat and Anganwadi Building Designs" developed by NIRDPR will be released on the occasion. 

The compendium containing various model building designs which incorporate sustainable construction technologies such as use of mud blocks, filler slabs, rat trap bond walls, bamboo panels and roof and IPS flooring has been developed in consultation with engineers of various states, according to NIRDPR. 

NIRDPR organized India’s first ‘Rural Innovators Startup Conclave 2017’ on 23rd and 24th March, 2017 at NIRDPR, Hyderabad to encourage and promote rural innovations.

The event is being organized every year in the memory of late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who championed harnessing technology for development.