School dropout’s invention for farmers | Fusion - WeRIndia

Rajendra Lohar hails from the village of Pachvara in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra, where he grew up as the eldest son in a family of seven.

His father was a welder in an oil mill, and his salary was not nearly enough to feed his entire family. Therefore, Rajendra was forced to drop out of school after class 10 and work in a garage, due to his family’s financial constraints.

However, despite working a garage job, Rajendra continued to learn. He worked there for 18 years, and while he was there, he learned all of the aspects of mechanics from his master. Rajendra took on responsibility for his family and started his own garage in Jalgaon.

Rajendra became known for the punctuality and perfection of his work. He also began to develop an interest in designing brand new machines. His first invention was a car with an auto-rickshaw engine, which received praise from the whole district.

His farmer friend, Motilal Patil, suggested that he make affordable machines for farmers, since it is difficult for them to find and hire laborers. Although Rajendra knew next to nothing about farming, his knowledge of mechanics was superb, so Motilal explained to him how a tiller works.

Combining this knowledge with his mechanical skills, Rajendra created a small power tiller from the engine of a scooter. Thanks to feedback from Motilal and other farmers, Rajendra continued to improve the tiller further through trial and error.

Finally, after several attempts and redesigns, the tiller was ready to go. His miniature power tiller, made from a scooter engine and scrap materials from his garage, only costs ₹18,000, as opposed to the market rate of a normal tiller, which costs over a lakh and a half.

Now, although Rajendra is still improving his machine, this tiller has been a huge boon to farmers, who are praising Rajendra for both his mechanical skill and his reliability.

Image Reference: TheBetterIndia