IPS officer Pritpal Kaur does not let go of any opportunity to direct the path of the tribes of Noklak, the district where she is posted. Earlier, to stop the youth from straying towards drugs and insurgency, she had found an innovative way to keep them motivated towards productive work and channelise their energy towards positive pursuits. Continuing that line of action, she has now steered the youths from making weapons to making useful machines. And, the youths on their part are living up to her expectations. Recently, she was called to inaugurate the first electric bike of Nagaland made by the tribes of Noklak.
Speaking with Indian Masterminds, Ms. Kaur shared details about this enterprising endeavour.
NOT GUNS, BUT MACHINE
Noklak is full of youths who have either dropped out of schools or are educated but are not employed. Hence, SP Kaur was looking for ways to provide them with gainful employment in the form of some kind of livelihood. The idea dawned on her when one day, while discussing with the local youths about the weapons they make, she thought, “It might be their tradition or history, but we cannot support something which is illegal. So why don’t they shape a product which is legal in the country.” And, she conveyed this idea to them.
As roads in Noklak are not in good conditions, she asked them to make a small electric bike, as petrol or diesel bike will pollute the environment. The electric bike is less than 250 watts (or 25km/h), so it does not need any RTO clearance.
“The first thing that we did was to register the bike in the MSME under the Udyam Scheme of Government of India. Then we got the registration number, and they started making a bike from scratch,” Ms. Kaur said.
They searched for all the small parts required to make the bike, and to make it sleek and beautiful, they purchased decorative products from Amazon. “This is a very basic version, but hopefully the coming electric bikes will be much better. At least, all the youths will get motivated as this is the first electric bike in the whole of Nagaland,” said Ms. Kaur.
She further informed that while testing the electric bike, they found out that the battery was getting low very fast. So, they now plan to make a solar powered machine, as Noklak gets a fair amount of sunlight. However, this process is still ongoing.
WHEEL OF NAGAS
And, when it came to choosing a name for the bike, everyone agreed on ‘WON – Wheel of Nagas’. This name was chosen to bust the misconception that this remote corner of India is infested with weapons and insurgency. It is not like that at all. People here are very much talented, they just need a direction to walk on,” Ms. Kaur said.
Incidentally, one of the persons involved in the making of the electric bike is a driver in her department called Khumeng. The other is a mechanic whose name is Tumong.
COOKING CUM DRIER MACHINE
Next, Ms. Kaur also asked them to make a small machine for the farmers, which they did. In Noklak, large cardamoms grow aplenty, but the farmers don’t have a proper machine to dry them. They dry them directly on the fire and, as a result, their prices go down. So, under Ms. Kaur guidance, the tribes made a cooking cum drier machine for the farmers.
“Secondly, Noklak has a women self-help group named Taste of Noklak Society, that makes all value addition products. When we were teaching them how to make ginger candies, we required a machine to cook the gingers. Hence, I asked the people to make a cooking cum drier machine with many outlets.”
OIL EXTRACTING MACHINE
This was not all. Seeing they are good with machines, Ms. Kaur then gave them the idea of making an oil extracting machine. Local farmers also grow perilla seeds which is an oil seed, but they had to travel for 14 hours to Dimapur to get oil from the seeds, as the machines were only available there. Transportation cost was high and, as a result, the price of oil also went up. Hence, the decision to make a small oil extracting machine in Noklak itself was taken and carried out.
In conclusion, Ms. Kaur said that the tribes in Noklak are very talented, and they just needed someone to guide them onto the right direction. “We did that. We are now hoping that the youth will move from making weapons and doing drugs to making useful products and doing good for society.”
