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- Explore co-creation and a participatory design approach and process
- Involve the beneficiaries during testing and validation
- Engage social mobilization mechanisms extensively
- Carry out strategic grouping of tools based on functionality and tasks
- Articulate strategies and norms for maintenance and up-keep of tools
- Identify and analyze areas of mechanised and semi-mechanised tools/equipments, keeping in mind efficiency and employment opportunities
- Identify and partner with manufacturing clusters and manufacturers, including small and medium enterprises
- Alter the weight of tools keeping needs of women workers in mind. Weight reduction of tools makes the task easier and less intense
- To optimize the weight of the tool, bring about changes in the profile as well as the angle of the blade used, specific to the type of operation (e.g. ?angular digging edge? to dig better, ?multiple digging edge?, ?dimensioned digging edge? etc)
- By optimizing on materials (eg. use of medium carbon steel) weight can be reduced while keeping the digging quality unchanged
- Use mechanical traction devices to enable load carrying from one point to the other (both vertically and horizontally) to overcome drudgery and ensure dignity of labour
- Provide necessary tools in the form of a ?tool kit? to the beneficiaries as another means of upgrading skills. The tool kits must be available at work sites and carrying them from home to the work place should be discouraged. Such modern tool kits must be evolved for not just field labour but other works such as plumbing, masonry, carpentry and electrification
- Aid heavy labour intensive tasks by semi-mechanised or mechanical traction devices to overcome drudgery and increase efficiency. This would also ensure that labour displacing machines do not take away the livelihood of workers.
3. Funding Mechanisms for Development of Tool Kits and Provisions for Loans: To ensure financial and operational sustainability as well as to achieve scale, it is necessary to create appropriate funding mechanisms that catalyze the task of creating relevant R&D. This will also encourage various industrial, academic and research institutions and engage young minds in a critical, if often overlooked part of the development process. From the point of view of the beneficiaries, the incorporation of redesigned tools and related R&D within the structure of an employment scheme (such as NREGA), would facilitate easy access and also encourage R&D providers. Within a programme like the NREGA, there is a need for appropriate designs of tools for women, as well as for those who are physically weak and caught in a vicious cycle of low nutrition and reduced physical efficiency. The proposed Skill Development Mission could also create mechanisms to encourage the redesigning of such tools. Further, in this respect, it is necessary to incentivize private sector producers and importers of low-cost cutting-edge, human dignity-enhancing tools and implements. Incentives such as tax and duty policies favourable to local production as well as low-cost loans for buying such tools should also be considered.
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