BAREILLY, November 28: A 26-year-old man, who was forced to drop out of school after Class VIII due to financial troubles, has invented a device which allows a tube well to be operated with a mobile phone. The user can make a call to find out if there is power supply in the tube well while he can type certain keywords on the phone for other details. One can even switch it on and off by just pressing a button from any corner of the world.
Since he was a child, Firasat Husain was intrigued with electrical appliances and was a natural at repairing them. He would sit and learn when his father, a mechanic, would work. Husain wanted to become an engineer but could not pursue his studies after class VIII due to financial problems.
After dropping out of school, Husain worked in a local electronic shop where he learnt the basics. “Apart from working at the shop, I would keep trying to invent small things,” said Husain, a native of Tilher city under Jalalabad tehsil of Shahjahanpur district.
About five years ago, he shifted to Jalalabad and opened his own shop for repairing electrical appliances. “Looking at my interest in putting together small equipment, a local youth challenged me to operate a 20 kg generator with a mobile phone. I worked on it for almost six days and was able to invent such a device. When the boy was able to switch on his generator with a mobile, it motivated me to work further on the instrument,” he said as he explained how the idea for the mobile operated tube well was born.
After years of hard work, Husain came up with the device through which farmers can use their mobiles to operate the tube wells. A SIM card is attached to the device and when a user dials the machine’s number, it gives details like voltage fluctuation. “A person can operate the machine by sitting in any corner of the world as he would have to make only one phone call,” said Husain.
During last year’s Kisan Mahotasav in Shahjahanpur, Husain had put up his device on display.
“I was amazed to see the device and talent of a school dropout. I announced at the event that I would give financial help to this youth for further inventions,” said Dr RK Yadav, deputy director, agriculture, Shahjahanpur.
Yadav added, “I have submitted a proposal to the state government if they can provide Husain’s device to farmers at a 50% subsidy. It will be beneficial to him as well as the farmers.” The procedure of applying for patent of the device is under process.
At present, six farmers are already using it. “Earlier we had to make several visits to the tube well during the night to switch it on and then turn it off. The erratic power supply also made it unsafe and inconvenient. However, the device has made our life easy,” said Jogendra Singh, a farmer in Udrapur village in Shahjahanpur.
“I have been flooded with calls from farmers who want to purchase the device but I do not have money to make it on a large scale,” said Husain. The making charge of one piece of device is Rs 7,500 while Husian is selling it for Rs 9,000.
