Video: `Sanskar Toy': Meet Warangal innovator who developed tool to detect `sexual abuse'

Yakara Ganesh developed this toy along with Bharadwaja, a B. Tech (third year) student at Vaagdevi Engineering College and Dr. MK Kaushik, CEO, Vaagdevi Incubation and Business Accelerator (VIBA).

"We hear about sexual harassment, rape, etc on the news every day. We as innovators think about social issues. So we came up with the idea of this toy through which our intention is to change the attitude of kids. We do not want to educate girls only but boys as well. We want to educate boys about 'good touch' and 'bad touch' and how to behave with girls," said Yakara Ganesh.

Dr. MK Kaushik, co-innovator, said this toy basically has an ultrasonic sensor with the sound wave and touch-based capacitive sensor. "When anyone touches it, the toy makes a sound. When anyone goes near the private parts, the toy will beep and say it is a bad touch," he said.

Kaushik said they named it 'Sanskar toy' with an intention to bring cultural and attitudinal change amongst the kids. "What happens in school, people theoretically explain about good and bad touch. We all know theoretical explanation does not create any impact. Visual elements leave a long-lasting impact on students. A student can play with toys and he or she will easily understand good and bad touch through this medium," said Kaushik.

He said children are reluctant to speak about the harassment due to different reasons. "Sexual harassment is not girls specific. Even boys face harassment too. But they are unable to explain or speak to parents. With this toy, they can tell their parents or teachers about bad touch," he said

The innovation has created quite a buzz in Telangana with Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of the Industries & Commerce (I&C) and Information Technology (IT), expressing a desire to buy the toys.

Jayesh Ranjan along with the Women and Child Development Department head met these innovators on Monday and said the department will buy the toys for Anganwadi centers and government schools.

Few companies have also expressed a desire to micro-manufacture and develop these toys. "We are making two types of toys. One, we are making a Robo version which is large in size and can be placed in schools and parks. We are also developing toy version which can be sold to parents directly," said Kaushik.