“We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children’’ – let’s read this slow and clear until the depth of what we read truly reverberates with each one of us. Yes, that is the magnitude of the responsibility each of us carries. A non-negotiable, simple yet difficult task that calls for complete awareness and action from all of us.
In a country like ours that holds Bhoomadevi as a supreme Goddess, with ancestors that have blessed us with unparalleled wisdom, it is only fair that we respect and honour what is gifted to us and pass it on unscathed to our younger generation. The many challenges that the current pandemic has put us through have undoubtedly also taught us to cope, evolve and do better. The Atmanirbhar Bharath Abhiyan proposed by our Hon. Prime Minister, had a positive and strong impact on me. It meant self-reliance and, in my opinion, self-reliance is not a ‘stand-alone term. It brings with it, greater meanings such as ‘self-sustaining’, ‘self-generating. This means that we have to pursue goals that promote efficiency and productivity, goals that build our resilience. Hence, celebrating Earth day does not only mean celebrating our environment and sensitizing our population on environmental issues but also remodelling and reworking our goals around sustainability, innovation, self-reliance and constant evolution.
REVA’s initiatives towards self-reliance
It is my strong belief that self-reliance is one of the mightiest tools that we can possess and can pass to our next generation. Being self-reliant means learning to continuously innovate and evolve. A contribution to addressing this pandemic from REVA, was the birth of Jeeva Setu, a ventilator to serve the communities in need. This was a product of dedication and multi-disciplinary collaborations from the university. We had also produced our own sanitisers and touchless dispensers to help staff and students stay safe during the pandemic.
We take pride in our R&D teams which worked tirelessly to facilitate our in-house production of contactless temperature screening, treadle pump for farmers, pedal-operated water pump and filtering system, foot-operated hydraulic lift, virtual conferencing platform, Jeeva Rakshak app, social distancing alert system, triple-layered masks, touchless taps and elevator systems to make the environment at REVA safe and healthy for our staff, faculty and students.
Our initiatives and efforts towards a sustained environment include rainwater harvesting, zero food wastage, recycling paper within the campus, composting with dry leaves inside the campus, using STP water for gardening etc. At REVA we truly believe, change happens, one step at a time. It begins with us. No step is small, no step is insignificant. What matters is that we are being our best, we are being accountable and responsible to make this place a better place. Not just now, not just for us, but for years to come, for our children and theirs.
The show must go on and efficiently so.
The Second Wave of Covid-19 is alarming than the First Wave and the efforts of the people seem to fall short to combat the pandemic. Amidst the fear and confusions, as an educational institution, the onus is on us to ensure that our community is protected and safe. We at REVA, have been a forerunner in digitizing the campus. As early as 2016, we held the REVA Digital Summit to envision a five-year plan that would make us a technology-driven University. Each year we add numerous inventions from various schools with the sole purpose of being digitally ahead. Our ERP, LMS, Moodle and LCS software enabled us to transition to blended learning smoothly.
Owing to the current pandemic situation, our schools have risen to the occasion to create solutions. The Jeeva Rakshak made at REVA is a smart sensor that alerts people when they are not maintaining social distancing. Our in-house virtual conferencing platform – Infy Online empowers us to facilitate the teaching-learning process by creating virtual classrooms, adding students, integrating into Moodle LMS for assignments and conduct polling/questionnaires/attendance. All this with real-time audio, video and screen sharing. At our main gate, we have implemented Smart Authentication System Software for contactless temperature screening and identification security. Our UV sterilization system is built to sanitize essentials and food materials to ensure workplace safety from COVID-19. Applicable to food items without altering the nutrients.
I am proud of our students, faculty and staff who are constantly coming together to contribute to a better tomorrow in every way possible. Together we shall all overcome this tough situation and rise out successful.
