IIT Directors to attend the 7th annual Ideal Village Conference in Varanasi

The 7th annual Ideal village Conference on Rural Transformation for Sustainable growth will be taking place in the Swatantrata Bhawan in, Banaras Hindu University(BHU), Varanasi on November 11th to 13th, 2022. The event is organized Jointly by Stanford Ideal Village Project, WHEELS Global Foundation, Pan IIT-Alumni, CII, FIPA and Banaras Hindu University (Institute of Management Studies).

This conference will showcase significant rural development policy initiatives and implementation victories from selected State and Central Government organisations, Foundations, and Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.

IIT Directors will attend and participate in the plenary session 3 on the "Role of  IITs in Rural Transformation". They will address the challenges faced by rural communities and to improve their quality of life. Also, how they made significant contributions by developing and transferring technologies for best outcomes.

The fundamental way that science and technology benefit society is through the generation of new information and the subsequent use of that knowledge to advance human prosperity and address societal problems.

In the early years of the 21st century, the transition to a knowledge-based society was well under way, making the creation of new knowledge an increasingly significant aspect of scientific and technological activities.

Since 2016, Stanford University has hosted the annual Ideal Village Conference, which serves as an integrated platform for collaboration for NGOs, corporate entities, governmental organisations, universities, and foundations working on comprehensive solutions for water and sanitation, healthcare and nutrition, education, energy and environment, and sustainable livelihoods that promote healthy, self-sufficient, and economically viable rural communities worldwide.

The organizers are also planning a “Best Practices” competition to identify the most effective rural development programs in each of the six tracks.  Winners will be chosen based on a set of comprehensive criteria and awarded cash prizes along with endorsements to secure CSR funding, to enable these programs to be scaled nationwide to create thousands of Ideal Villages with regular impact measurements and monitoring of progress.

Their vision is to improve the lives of 20% or more of India’s rural population by 2030 by meeting the needs of rural communities in all six tracks and creating a thriving rural community and an enduring rural economy which impacts India’s GDP.