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Sakrabhai (80) comes from a small village of
Dahod district, Gujarat. The population is around 300
and mostly indulging in agricultural activities,
animal rearing and working as daily wage labourers. Sakrabhai is an illiterate farmer and grows rice
and pulses in the 2.5 acres of land he owns, used
for self-sustenance. His son who works as a daily
wager in Ahmedabad economically supports the family. He also has a few cattle heads whose
products are utilized for domestic consumption only.As a child, he started to learn by observing
his father practicing herbal medicines. His interest
to develop medications for animals started to grow and by 18 years of age, he was already
giving medicines. He distinctly remembers the very
first case of curing prolapse, where he failed and
the guilt of it made him work harder. This hard
work over so many of years has paid dividends now
in terms of social recognition when even the elders
in the village compliment him by saying, "Janavar
ne kayi pan bimari thay, aane par Sakrabhai hath
muki de to janavar saju thayi jay"1.Since he does not charge any money for his
services, people respect him more. Sakrabhai
also feels that his social status has increased in
the society due to this contribution. However, since
his economic condition is not sound sometimes his family objects to this `social service'.
Sakrabhai's formulations for bloat are being
tested upon in the College of Veterinary Science,
Mumbai and a proposal to work on them has been
submitted for TePP funding from the Government of India.
He participated in the Inventors of India workshop
at IIM, Ahmedabad in October 2006 where he felt
very happy to interact with fellow innovators. He
also participated in the Regional Workshop for
Herbal Healers at Bhavnagar in December 2006 where
the healers interacted with scientists and
discussed the possibilities of product development.
Mr. Sakarabhai suggests that there should be a
garden of medicinal plants containing information
regarding its name along with its medicinal properties so
that the people can use it.
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