This Delhiite’s path-breaking innovation to help farmers has won National Award

Who says youngsters aren’t concerned enough about our society. Meet Suhani Chauhan, who recently received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar for Innovation from President Droupadi Murmu. And she is the sole Delhiite who is a recipient of the highest National Award for children!
A student of Class VIII at Amity International School in Pushp Vihar, she received this award, at Vigyan Bhavan, at a ceremony where children in the age group of 5 to 18 years are awarded for their excellence in seven categories namely, Bravery, Art & Culture, Environment, Innovation, Science & Technology, Social Service and Sports.
Chauhan’s path-breaking innovation, So-Apt, is what brought her laurels at this ceremony. So-Apt is a multi-function solar energy powered vehicle for agricultural use, with zero carbon emission to benefit small farmers. The vehicle can be used for seed-sowing, spraying, irrigation, hole digging and various other agricultural needs, which make it high on utility. “If only 1% of the tractors used in India would use this technology, there would be an annual saving of ₹1,800 crores of diesel,” says the youngster, adding, “The saving of carbon emissions per year would be about 272,000 metric tonnes of CO2, which in carbon credits is valued at about 10 million USD (about 84 crores) per year. The farmers can even use the solar panels on the vehicles, to power other appliances when not using it in the field or even sell any surplus they create.”
What was also thrilling for this young innovative mind was a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She gave a big smile when asked about the Pradhanmantri Suryodaya Yojana, which the PM had launched just a day before the ceremony to install solar panels on one crore homes. “Our Prime Minister also wants the home owners to be able to sell any surplus energy from their roof-top solar panels, to earn money, just the way I want the farmers using my agri-vehicle,” she says excitedly, adding, “I will always cherish the signed watch, book and tablet that Modi ji personally gifted to each one of us. We were told that we now belong not only to our family but to the country, and that we have a responsibility to work harder to help our country and society.”
Full of gratitude, she expresses pleasure at her achievement, and adds, “I’m extremely honoured and humbled to have received this prestigious award from the hon’ble President Droupadi Murmu ji, and it was a dream come true for me. I’ve been working on this idea ever since I was in class VIII, when I visited a farm on a school trip. On seeing the plight of the small farmers and speaking to many of them, I realised that a low-cost, eco-friendly and multi-tool agri-vehicle could be transformative for them… I’m also extremely grateful to minister Smriti Irani ji, who spent so much time with all the awardees and took so much care of us.”
This futuristic kid is already in talks with manufacturing companies to develop her innovation further and produce vehicles to benefit small farmers from across India. She says: “Agriculture is the backbone of our country.”