The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has invited M. A. Abdul Razak, a 41-year-old uneducated innovator of Madurai, to New Delhi for a demonstration of a warm jacket he had created for the use of armed forces personnel serving in high altitude amid snow, ice and extreme cold conditions. But to his bad luck, the poor innovator does not have money even to purchase train tickets.
The Hindu carried a report about the innovative jacket, stuffed with beeswax, on March 17. Subsequently, Mr. Razak received a communication from Lt. Col. Sagar K. Mohanty, Joint Director, Master General of Ordnance Branch, Integrated Headquarters of MoD, South Block, New Delhi, asking him to be present in the Union capital on June 16 for a presentation on the jacket.
“I was elated to receive the invitation, yet wary about the costs involved in travelling to New Delhi which might come around Rs.3,000. Further, I would require Rs.10,000 more for making two more demo jackets which employ a different technique to help the soldiers brave the cold conditions. I have been struggling to get monetary assistance for the last three days but only in vain,” he rues.
The innovator says that he has two more ideas for improving his innovation. One was to stuff the jackets with air-filled pillows and the other to fill them with a combination of timber dust and ash which would help in clearing the sweat of the soldiers. “I am told that many soldiers working in high altitudes take bath only once in a month. My new technique will help such soldiers,” he adds.
Mr. Razak had actually used his son's jacket to create the first warm jacket with beeswax. But now even his son does not have any more jackets to spare for creating two more demonstration pieces. “I would be grateful if the district administration or any kind-hearted person comes forward to help me,” says the Razak who recently received a national award for innovative thinking from the President.
