Kochi, May 9 (KNN)  In an effort to seek modern inventions and innovative rural solutions from across the country for the second Bihar Innovation Forum (BIF II), Jeevika, also called Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project organised a road show in Kochi on May-8.

The event provided a platform for the organisers to interact with high impact social innovators from the city and surrounding regions, according to a media report.

Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS) that implements the Jeevika project, through the road show, has called for entries to showcase innovations under eight livelihood themes – agriculture, livestock, financial services, rural energy, ICT-based solutions, skill development and non-farm sector, access to entitlements and access to services.

Participants of the competition will be assured of recognition, visibility, access to funding and mentorship support.

In addition, they will be provided an opportunity to work alongside the Bihar government to implement and upgrade their projects in the state.

Significantly, Jeevika offers innovators the prospect of working with one million rural households.

Launched in 2007, the first Bihar Innovation Forum was the first of its kind in the country when more than 150 applications were received.

However, while the first forum focused on innovations from within Bihar, the second forum is keen to see participation from across the nation.

Other road shows have been scheduled in Chandigarh and Guwahati on May-8, Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad on May-10, Bhopal on May-11, Jaipur on May-13, Chennai and Bengaluru on May-14.

Given Jeevika’s goal of reaching 1.5 crore or 15 million rural, poor households in Bihar, BIF II will play a critical role in achieving rural livelihoods improvement by facilitation integration of innovations from key livelihood sectors. 

BRLPS is an independent society of the Government of Bihar that receives support from the Government of India, Government of Bihar and the World Bank. (KNN)