A Centre Caring for The Development of Rural Technology: Irtc

Abstract

Integrated Rural Technology Centre (IRTC) has been in
existence since 1987 with the mission of integrating rural technology
with scientific knowledge and scientific temper, and disseminating them
to the rural people so as to enhance the quality of their life. IRTC has
its roots in the Kerala Sastra Sahthya Parishad (KSSP), the premier
People’s Science Movement in the country, started in 1962 as a forum
for the science writers in Malayalam (regional language of the state of
Kerala). Through the years the KSSP has emerged from an idea of a
group of committed individuals, to a well-knit organisation spread all
over Kerala and finally to a People’s Science Movement. It has grown
from the humble objective of publishing articles/ books in Malayalam
on science, scientific inventions and discoveries for enabling the
common literate Malayali to understand the progress of science and its
importance in our day-to-day life. Its goal got evolved later into the
slogan “Science for Social Revolution”, by virtue of its empirical
knowledge and experience accumulated through the years of active
involvement in several real issues.