Bihar Govt Launches the ‘ 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum’

Calls for Applications and Invites High Impact Social Innovators Across India

INDIACSR News Network

MUMBAI: The Government of Bihar launches the 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum today and has called in applications from organisations creating a social impact at the bottom of the pyramid.

Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar announced the launch of the 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum, an initiative of the Government of Bihar through Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (JEEViKA), in collaboration with the State Innovation Council, Bihar.

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The 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum aims to attract innovators with impactful social innovations from public, private and civil society organizations registered in India, under 8 livelihood themes – agriculture, livestock, financial services, rural energy, ICT based solutions, skill development & non-farm sector, access to entitlements and access to services. The shortlisted entries will get an opportunity to partner with the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society to replicate and scale up their innovations in Bihar through formal partnership modalities.

Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, said, “Innovation is essential to overcome the persistent socio-economic challenges and we have seen these innovations start a silent revolution in the society. Through the 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum the Bihar government looks forward to supporting such unique social innovations that have seen impact in different geographies across India and can be replicated in the state of Bihar. We are committed to the upliftment of the rural poor and seek to bring about sustainable and large scale positive impact for rural households.”

Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar,  Sushil Kumar Modi, said, “Innovations play an important role in ensuring fast paced development and through the 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum we will be able to identify innovations from across India that will further this development in Bihar. The 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum will also enable these innovators to form direct linkages with the institutions of the rural poor.”

Rural Development Minister, Nitish Mishra, said, “The 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum is a platform that will allow us to find innovators and social entrepreneurs who have found creative and cost-effective ways of delivering essential services to poor households in rural areas. In the next 3 months we will recognize and award those innovations which can be scaled up to further enhance livelihoods in rural areas of Bihar.

Arvind Kumar Chaudhary, Chief Executive Officer, Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS) said, the “The 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum looks to support livelihood solutions that will help rural and marginalized communities in Bihar, to access better livelihood opportunities, goods and services. The 2ndBihar Innovation Forum will go beyond showcasing solutions, it will give winners the opportunity to serve those at the bottom of the pyramid, and make transformational impact at an unmatched scale.”

At the launch of the 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum, Parmesh Shah, Lead Rural Development Specialist, World Bank said “Our experience shows that social innovators have found very creative, cost effective and innovative ways of delivering services that reach out to the rural poor. We are convinced that the 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum will identify social innovations that can uplift the rural poor and facilitate change in the state of Bihar.”

Benefits for winners
Through the 2nd Bihar Innovation Forum, Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS) looks to develop an institutional and capacity building environment that will create impact both at the grassroots level in the state and across the country. The winners will get an opportunity to access social capital of 1 million organised rural households to which an investment of US$ 120 million has already been made. The investment will increase to US$ 1 billion and is expected to take the number of organised households to 15 million by 2017.  Winners will also receive last mile delivery and field level logistical and implementation support from BRLPS. In addition to national and international recognition and visibility, BRLPS also promises the BIF II winners, support in terms of guidance and mentorship through its partners.

How to apply:
Interested applicants can log on to www.biharinnovationforum.in and go to Apply Now section. Applicants are requested to read all the terms and conditions before applying to eliminate the chances of getting disqualified due to any inappropriate information. The last date to apply is May 28, 2013 (before 5pm).

For any assistance in filling the application, the applicants can also reach out to the following helpline number: +91 612-645-2349

Bihar Innovation Forum
Bihar Innovation Forum was previously launched in 2007 and was first of its kind in the country wherein more than 150 applications were received and through a rigorous screening & field validation process; 25 innovations were selected, celebrated and awarded with the cash prize awards and certificates of merit. Out of the winning entries BRLP established partnerships with five innovators – COMFED (for empowering milk producers by organizing the unorganized); PRADAN (for System of Rice Intensification); EDA Rural System Private Limited (for organizing beekeepers for the market); SHAKTI SUDHA (providing technical assistance to farmers to grow “makhana”) and SAKHI (for creating fisherwomen’s’ collectives). A few others were supported by development agencies including DFID and one of the them (SAMMAN) went on to be recognized by the President of United States with Global Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS)
Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS), i.e, JEEViKA is an organization created by the Government of Bihar to spearhead its interventions for livelihood promotion in the rural areas of the state. BRLPS is getting support from the Government of Bihar, Government of India and the World Bank to address rural poverty issues in the state. JEEViKA has been designated as State Rural Livelihoods Mission by the Government of Bihar to roll out the activities planned under National Rural Livelihoods Mission. The objective of the organization is to empower the rural poor and improve upon their livelihood options.

This would be done by developing institutions of the rural poor and producers to enable them to access services, credit and assets from public and private sector institutions in better way. It intends to work as a catalyst and facilitators in order to create an enabling ambience to give fillip to the SHG movement which historically in different parts of country has proved to be an effective and successful tool for economic and social empowerment.

BRLPS has incorporated identification of existing innovations in various areas as its key element and professes to lend a helping hand in developing processes, systems and institutions for scaling up these innovations. It also aims to focus on stimulating productivity growth in key livelihood sectors and thus increase the employment generation options in areas of implementation. It has also set the agenda of making adequate investment in area of skill development by providing vocational training to the local youths and ensuring their placement in the formal sector.