Chaudhary Kamruddin of Rajasthan, India owns a two wheelers and bicycle repairing shop. Apart from the daily repair work, he has developed a hobby of modifying the common bicycle by adding interesting equipments and accessories. Once, he added a moped engine to the bicycle and rode it for a year. For the last 25 years, his objective is to make the bicycle more and more comfortable, safe and multipurpose.  In due course, he was able to develop a multipurpose bicycle which is not only safe and comfortable but is also a mobile work platform for various small and general repairing works.

Features and advantages of the multipurpose bicycle

The bicycle has been modified as a mobile workstation for the various needs of repairing workers. It has tools of carpentry and black smithy and so, is very useful to all those general purpose repairing workers who move from door to door and do the jobs like drilling, sawing, grinding, sharpening blades, motor winding etc to earn their livelihood. The tools are powered by a 12 V lead battery placed intelligently between the bicycle frames.

In spite of all these accessories and tools, Kamruddin hasn't let the multipurpose bicycle become heavy. It is 25 percent lighter than the normal one and it has an auto gear system to power it which makes it easier and faster to ride.

The bicycle has an umbrella attached to it with a sliding and a locking mechanism which makes the umbrella almost automatic to use. The bicycle has a wind shield to protect the rider from wind.

The bicycle has front and back lights powered by dynamo. It also has normal safety light and side indicators similar to any two wheelers.

Support and Recognition for the grassroots innovation

National Innovation Foundation (NIF), a non-profit, autonomous organization under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India has recognized and awarded Kamruddin's innovation in its biennial national competition for unaided green grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge. NIF has also filed a patent application for the multipurpose bicycle. Kamruddin is waiting for the patent to be granted and after that only he wants his product to be commercialized. He is not interested in profits and margins and just wants to do good for the society.

About the Author:
Ashish Kumar is a student at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He writes articles on grassroots innovations and other related topics.