Jugaad

{{short description|Indian term describing a creative hack or kludge}}

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Jugaad (Hindustani: {{lang|hi|जुगाड़}} {{translit|hi|jugaaḍ}} (Hindi) / {{lang|ur|جگاڑ}} {{translit|ur|jugaaṛ}} (Urdu)) is a concept of non-conventional, frugal innovation in the Indian subcontinent.{{cite web |title=जुगाड़ |trans-title=Creative improvisation |url=http://www.aamboli.com/translate?word=%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A1%E0%A4%BC |website=aamboli.com |access-date=28 December 2021 |archive-date=12 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512140918/http://www.aamboli.com/translate?word=%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A1%E0%A4%BC |url-status=dead }} It also includes innovative fixes or simple workarounds, solutions that bend the rules, or resources that can be used in such a way. It is considered creative to make existing things work and create new things with meager resources.

Jugaad is increasingly accepted{{when?|date=January 2025}} as a management technique{{cite news |title=Jugaad: A New Growth Formula for Corporate America |url=http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/01/jugaad_a_new_growth_formula_fo.html |newspaper=Harvard Business Review Blog Network|date=25 January 2010}}{{cite journal |title=Bricolage in R&D Settings |journal=IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management |doi=10.1109/TEM.2020.2997796 |hdl=11343/241260 |s2cid=225681071 |hdl-access=free}} and is recognized all over the world as a form of frugal innovation.{{cite news |title=India's Next Global Export: Innovation |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2009-12-02/indias-next-global-export-innovation |newspaper=Bloomberg Businessweek |date=2 December 2009}} Companies in Southeast Asia are adopting{{when?|date=January 2025}} jugaad as a practice to reduce research and development costs.{{cite news |title=A snip at the price |url=https://www.economist.com/node/13754045?story_id=13754045 |newspaper=The Economist |date=28 May 2009}} Jugaad also applies to any kind of creative and out-of-the-box thinking or life hacks that maximize resources for a company and its stakeholders.

According to author and professor Jaideep Prabhu, jugaad is an "important way out of the current{{when?|date=January 2025}} economic crisis in developed economies and also holds important lessons for emerging economies".{{Cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/cambridge-expert-says-indian-jugaad-is-lesson-to-world/story-M3q6vFu8tEPj8eSNsAJo5M.html|title = Cambridge expert says Indian 'jugaad' is lesson to world|date = 8 November 2013}}

Improvised vehicles

File:Jugaad technology (A motorcycle pulling another one by a rope).jpg

{{lang|hi-Latn|Jugaad}} can also refer to a homemade or locally made vehicle in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. They are made by local mechanics using wooden planks, metal sheets and parts taken from different machines and vehicles.

One type of {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}} is a quadricycle, a vehicle made of wooden planks and old SUV parts, variously known as kuddukka{{clarify|date=December 2023|reason=What language? Use {{lang}} markup around it with the correct language code.}} and {{lang|pa-Latn|peter rehra}} in Northern India. However, {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}} is also used as a term for any low-cost vehicle which typically costs around Rs 50,000 (US${{To USD|50000|IND}}).{{Cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Companies/Bt7C5EnNrvRyoqZAERSbMN/Rural-India8217s-jugaad-for-cheap-travel.html|title=Rural India's jugaad for cheap travel – Livemint|website=livemint.com|date=25 March 2008|access-date=2016-04-09}} {{lang|hi-Latn|Jugaads}} may be powered by a diesel engine originally intended to power agricultural irrigation pumps. They are known for poor brakes, and cannot 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.

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. As part of research for his 2013 book, Innovation and a Global Knowledge Economy in India, Thomas Birtchnell, a lecturer of Sustainable Communities at University of Wollongong, Australia, found that of 2,139 cases of road traffic casualties in 72 hours at J N Medical College hospital in Aligarh, 13.88% of pedestrian casualties were due to {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}}. It was stated by Minister of Road Transport and Highways Pon Radhakrishnan that jugaad do not conform to the specifications of a motor vehicle under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.{{Cite web |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/one-hack-of-a-vehicle/ |title=One hack of a vehicle|date=2015-10-25 |website=The Indian Express |access-date=2016-04-09}} These vehicles hence do not have any vehicle registration plate and they are not registered with the Regional Transport Office (RTO). Hence, no road tax is paid on them, neither there exists any official count of such vehicles.

Jugaad vehicles 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.{{cite web|url=http://becauseitreallyispersonal.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/india-school-bus-tricycle.jpg|title=Bal Mandir Public School Transportation}} For safety reasons the Government of India has officially banned {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}} vehicles.{{cite web|title=Govt issues order to seize jugaads|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Govt-issues-order-to-seize-jugaads/articleshow/5707131.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330071846/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-03-21/jaipur/28116564_1_jugaads-govt-issues-order-transport|archive-date=30 March 2013|work=The Times of India|url-status=live|access-date=12 July 2013}}

Another type of {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}} called bike-{{lang|pa-Latn|rehra}} or motorcycle-{{lang|pa-Latn|rehri}}, a motorcycle, moped or scooter modified into motorized trikes are used in the northern states of India, especially Punjab.{{cite web | url=https://www.jagran.com/punjab/ludhiana-very-bad-mla-talwar-inaugrate-illegal-bike-rehra-18651313.html | title=जुगाड़ू रेहड़ों का विधायक तलवाड़ और पार्षद मनीषा ने किया उद्घाटन }}{{Full citation needed|date=January 2025|reason=Please add details like a translation of the title, website name, and date of publication.}}{{cite web | url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/punjab-cm-bhagwant-mann-unhappy-with-transport-dept-decision-to-ban-use-of-motorcycle-rehri-388834 | title=Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann 'unhappy' with transport dept decision to ban use of 'motorcycle rehri'}}

Another type of {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}} called {{lang|hi-Latn|phat-phatri}} rickshaw or {{lang|hi-Latn|phatphatiya}} rickshaw, WWII-era Harley Davidson motorcycles modified into motorized trikes which were earlier used in New Delhi.{{cite web |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/phat-phat-a-reincarnation-of-harley-davidson-heritage-transport-museum/HQXBdYEWWlDUIg?hl=en |title=Phat-Phat: A reincarnation of Harley Davidson}}

A variant of the {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}} vehicle in the Tamil Nadu state of Southern India is the {{lang|ta-Latn|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){{cite web|url=http://indiantriporteurs.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/a7.jpg|title=Indian Tripurteurs A7}}{{cite news | url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/the-hazards-of-native-ingenuity/article19520385.ece | title=The hazards of native ingenuity | newspaper=The Hindu | date=18 August 2017 | last1=Narayanan | first1=Vivek }} with a heavy-duty suspension and a motorcycle engine—typically recycled from Czech Yezdi or Enfield Bullet vehicles. Its origins are typical of other {{lang|hi-Latn|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.{{cite web|url=http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/motor_tricycle-showroom.html|title=Motor Tricycle-Motor Tricycle Manufacturers, Suppliers and Exporters on alibaba.com}}

Another variant of the {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}} called {{lang|gu-Latn|chakkda}} rickshaw, a motorcycle modified into a tri-wheeler with truck wheels in the rear, is used in the Gujarat state of India.{{cite web |url=https://www.beontheroad.com/2018/02/the-chakda-indias-true-jugaad-vehicle.html# |title=The Chakda: India's True Jugaad Vehicle – be on the Road | Live your Travel Dream! }}

A variant of {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}} in Pakistan is a motorcycle made into a motorized trike called {{lang|ur-Latn|chand-gari}} meaning "moon vehicle" or {{lang|ur-Latn|chingchee}} after the Chinese company Jinan Qingqi who first introduced these to the market.{{cite web |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/925391-motorcycle-rickshaws-to-be-replaced-with-electric-bikes | title=Motorcycle rickshaws to be replaced with electric bikes}}

Today, a {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}} is one of the most cost-effective transportation solutions for rural Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis.

File:Jugaad.jpg|{{lang|hi-Latn|Jugaad}} vehicle {{lang|pa-Latn|peter rehra}} powered by an agricultural water pump engine

Jugaad_engine.JPG |{{lang|hi-Latn|Jugaad}} engine being hand-started

File:Politicaljugaad.jpg|{{lang|hi-Latn|Jugaad}} vehicle carrying passengers to a political rally in Agra, India

File:Motorcycle cart .jpg|Bike-trolley, a {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}} trailer for motorcycles

File:ChhakdoRickshaw.jpg|{{lang|gu-Latn|Chakkda}} rickshaw in Gujarat, India

File:Market porter pedals jugaad goods carrier tricycle in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India.jpg|A non-motorized {{lang|ta-Latn|meen body vandi}} {{lang|hi-Latn|jugaad}}-style improvised vehicle, in Tamil Nadu, India

File:Meen Body Vandi fish bed vehicle Jugaad tricycle trike conversion three wheeler Rajdoot TVS Tamilnadu India - மீன் பூடி வண்டி Etan Doronne www.myindiaexperience.com Wikipedia.jpg|Motorised {{lang|ta-Latn|meen body vandi}}

File:Chingchee in Pakistan.JPG| {{lang|ur-Latn|Chand-gari}} rickshaw in Pakistan

File:Pheter Rehra 2.jpg|Diesel engine converted into a {{lang|pa-Latn|peter rehra}} vehicle in Punjab, India

File:Pheter Rehra.jpg|{{lang|pa-Latn|Peter rehra}}, a local vehicle made with a diesel engine in Punjab, India

Jugaad

Improvised vehicles

See also

References

Further reading