Jugaad

Jugaad vehicle powered by an agricultural water pump engine

Jugard or Jugaad (Hindi: जुगाड़) is a Hindi term widely used in India and by people of Indian origin around the world. Jugaad (also sometimes jugard) is a term applied to a creative or innovative idea providing a quick, alternative way of solving or fixing a problem. Jugaad literally means an improvised arrangement or work-around, which has to be used because of lack of resources.

Jugaad originated from local verbal Speak/Phrase, ((To make the Difference in their children, while learning the ancestor perfection job - with ease and honour; Parents(Trainer) relate the things as child(trainee) wish and mould the child to perfection. Trainer are technically sounded in their work and performing same task generation after next)).

Punjabi Language pronounced it Jugard or Jugaad, Sanskrit Language also pronounced the word yukti, colloquial yugat and Hindi Language pronounced it to Jugat.^{[citation needed]}

The Jugaad movement has gathered a community of enthusiasts, believing it to be the proof of Indian bubbling creativity, or a cost-effective way to solve the issues of everyday life. It is commonly used when describing a workaround to get through commercial, logistical, or legal issues. Sometimes, jugaad may refer to an idea from which a person can control his or her budget, or from which they may acquire luxuries through illegal means, such as the theft of electricity, gas etc.

The same term, Jugaad, is given to locally made motor vehicles, used mostly in small villages as a means of low-cost transportation in rural India. These vehicles are made by carpenters by fitting a diesel engine on a cart.

Low-cost vehicle

Jugaad carrying passengers to a political rally in Agra, India

Jugaads cost around Rs. 50,000 (less than US$ 1,000). They are powered by diesel engines originally intended to power agricultural irrigation pumps. They are known for poor brakes, and can not go faster than about 60 km/h (37 mph). The vehicle often carries more than 20 people at a time in remote locations and poor road conditions. Today, a jugaad is one of the most cost-effective transportation solutions for rural Indians.

Though no statistical data is available, it is reported that there are a number of instances of failing brakes, requiring a passenger to jump off and manually apply a wooden block as a brake. These vehicles do not have any vehicle registration plate as they are not registered with the Regional Transport Office (RTO). Hence, no road tax is paid on them.

Jugaad are not officially recognized as road-worthy, and despite a few proposals to regulate them, vote-bank politics have trumped safety concerns. The improvised vehicles have now become rather popular as a means to transport all manner of burdens, from lumber to steel rods to school children. It has been officially banned by government for safety reasons.^{[citation needed]}

Vehicle variants

A non-motorized Meen Body Vandi jugaad-style improvised vehicle, in Tamil Nadu, India.

A variant of the Jugaad vehicle in Tamil Nadu in South India is the Meen Body Vandi. This roughly translates to "fish bed vehicle" because they originated among local fishermen who needed a quick and cheap transport system to transport fish. It is a motorized tri-wheeler (derived from the non-motorized variant) with a heavy-duty suspension and a motorcycle engine—typically recycled from Czech Yezdi or Enfield bullet vehicles. Its origins are typical of other Jugaadu innovations—dead fish are typically considered unhygienic, and vehicles that carry them cannot be typically used to carry anything else. Similar vehicles can be found throughout much of Southeast Asia.

Jugaad as a concept

Jugaad engine being hand-started

Jugaad is also a colloquial Hindi word that can mean an innovative fix or a simple work-around, sometimes pejoratively used for solutions that bend rules, or a resource that can be used as such, or a person who can solve a complicated issue. It is used as much to describe enterprising street mechanics as for political fixers. This meaning is often used to signify creativity to make existing things work or to create new things with meagre resources.

The jugaad concept can be contrasted with the Western (originally American) concept of a hack or kludge. Although in its general meaning "hack" is very similar to "jugaad", a jugaad can be thought of more as a survival tactic, whereas a hack, especially nowadays, is seen an intellectual art form. Both concepts express a need to do what needs to be done, without regard to what is conventionally supposed to be possible.

Jugaad is increasingly being accepted as a management technique and is recognized all over the world as an acceptable form of frugal engineering pioneered in India. Companies in India are adopting Jugaad as a practise to reduce research and development costs. Jugaad also applies to any kind of creative and out of the box thinking which maximizes resources for a company and its stakeholders.

Issues

A Jugaad implemented by replacing a load-bearing structural column with a thin pole

The practical applications and implementations of Jugaad often defy established processes, at the risk of creating safety issues. There are several instances of Jugaad fixes failing, at the cost of lives and money^{[citation needed]}.

Some argue that, stripped of its disregard for safety, Jugaad is simply another word for ‘Frugal Innovation’, propagated simply for its eastern, esoteric and mystical allure, which overshadow the underlying urge to save cost and maximize profit^{[citation needed]}.

See also

• Rickshaw
• Tonga (carriage)
• Transport in India
• Kludge

Notes

Further reading

• Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu, Simone Ahuja, Kevin Roberts (2012). Jugaad Innovation: Think Frugal, Be Flexible, Generate Breakthrough Growth. Wiley. p. 288. ISBN 978-1-1182-4974-1. 
• Rishikesha T. Krishnan. From Jugaad to Systematic Innovation: The Challenge for India. 
• Barun S. Mitra. "India’s ‘Informal’ Car". Asian Wall Street Journal, page 10, Jan. 26, 1995. 
• MCCLELLAN, PHILIP. "Is Jugaad Going Global?". Ny Times. 
• Rajnish Tiwari, Cornelius Herstatt http://www.tuhh.de/tim/downloads/arbeitspapiere/Working_Paper_72.pdf. "Open Global Innovation Networks as Enablers of Frugal
• Innovation: Propositions Based on Evidence from India".