Page:SELECTED ESSAYS of Dr. S. S. KALBAG.pdf/291

 ﻿________________

years with n-logue. The agreement ended in 2006. VA decided not to renew the agreement with n-logue and handed over the project to n-logue in Jan 2006. A loan from IIE was paid back in 2006-07. Though the WLL project could not succeed in establishing viable village kiosks, it helped in development of another project aAQUA. It also helped VA in establishing internet connectivity and web culture in VA. This helped in nurturing linkages with MIT, Lend-a-handIndia, Asha for education etc. From 2007 onwards, VA got connectivity from other service providers. 6) DST core support and CAPART's 'Technology Resource Center (TRC): VA got core support from 1992 - 2004 from Dept of Science and Technology (Science and society division). Due to this long term support, VA could carry out many of its development projects. Similarly, VA got Training and Resource Center status from CAPART. Objective of TRC is to promote rural technology to the people. Technology Developed after 2003 Dr.Kalbag was a scientist and had a life time experience in industrial research. His demise created a vacuum at VA. To overcome this, VA started collaborating with other institutions. VA also started giving thrust on developing business model and replication in a more focused way. Following are the technology development projects undertaken after 2003. 11 aAQUA (www.aaqua.org) aAQUA stands for "Almost all questions answered". It is an on line discussion forum for farmers. Here a farmer can post his/her question in Marathi/English language and experts from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Agri. Science Center) Baramati answer the questions. This is in line with the idea of 'problem referral system' mentioned in articles Rural Development Through Education System 278