A collection of such innovations, created by unknown inventors, were showcased at the Innovative India stalls during the Indian Science Congress held here recently. Among the innovators, hailing from remote rural corners of the country, was Amrutbhai Agrawat, whose bullock cart with a tilting wagon and shock absorbers was a great hit. Agrawat, a native of Pikhor village of Junagadh district in Gujarat, said the driving force behind the invention was to make life easy for his hardworking bullocks. Consequently, part of the load is borne by the draft animals on their shoulders and necks. Another shortcoming in the design is the harnessing system that makes it difficult to negotiate sharp bends or turns in the road.
Bullocks often develop galls on their necks and suffer silently as they toil for their masters.
He conceived the idea of a bullock-cart that would be similar to a tractor with a hydraulic system for lifting the trolley. Despite several financial hardships, he created a cart, with improved features to spread manure over the fields, that can be tilted at the turn of an operating wheel and has a hand- lever brake. Now his efforts are paying off. I had a problem, there was no solution available, so I found one. The three wheels facilitate flexibility of movement and hence is ideal for small fields.