Reimagining Rural Innovation in India – RuTAGe Smart Village Centers and the Village Readiness Level (VRL) Framework

Reimagining Rural Innovation in India – RuTAGe Smart Village Centers and the Village Readiness Level (VRL) Framework | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Case Report Reimagining Rural Innovation in India – RuTAGe Smart Village Centers and the Village Readiness Level (VRL) Framework Mr. Krishnan Narayanan, Sapna Poti This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7064214/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper presents a novel approach to rural innovation in India through the RuTAGe Smart Village Centres (RSVC) initiative and the development of the Village Readiness Level (VRL) framework. Spearheaded by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, RSVCs function as decentralized, technology-enabled hubs that empower rural communities through localized innovation, entrepreneurship, and capacity-building. To ensure that technologies deployed in villages are contextually appropriate, the study introduces the VRL framework—a multi-dimensional evaluation tool grounded in the NEST (Nature, Economy, Society, Technology) model . Developed through a participatory process involving rural development experts, the VRL addresses the limitations of conventional readiness frameworks like TRL by incorporating socio-environmental and operational factors critical to rural settings. A two-stage methodology combining participatory framework design and embedded case studies validates the VRL across three innovation deployments: agritech services in Chhattisgarh, a sanitation logistics platform in Haryana, and decentralized organic fertilizer production in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana . The findings demonstrate that technologies with high VRL scores not only achieve technical success but also promote livelihoods, environmental sustainability, and community well-being. This study contributes a replicable model for co-intelligent rural development, enabling more informed, inclusive, and sustainable innovation adoption across India’s diverse village ecosystems. Rural Innovation Village Readiness Level NEST Framework Nature-Society-Economy-Technology Decentralized Development Participatory Design Sustainable Livelihoods Rural India Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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Spearheaded by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of \u0026nbsp;India, \u0026nbsp;RSVCs \u0026nbsp;function as \u0026nbsp;decentralized, \u0026nbsp;technology-enabled \u0026nbsp;hubs \u0026nbsp;that empower rural communities through localized innovation, entrepreneurship, and capacity-building. To ensure that technologies deployed in villages are contextually appropriate, the study introduces the VRL framework—a multi-dimensional evaluation tool grounded in the \u003cem\u003eNEST (Nature, Economy, Society, Technology) model\u003c/em\u003e. Developed through a participatory process involving rural development experts, the VRL addresses the limitations of conventional readiness frameworks like TRL by incorporating socio-environmental and operational factors critical to rural settings. A two-stage methodology combining participatory framework design and embedded case studies validates the VRL across three innovation deployments: \u003cem\u003eagritech services in Chhattisgarh, a sanitation logistics platform in Haryana, and decentralized organic fertilizer production in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana\u003c/em\u003e. The findings demonstrate that technologies with high VRL scores not only achieve technical success but also promote livelihoods, environmental sustainability, and community well-being. This study contributes a replicable model for co-intelligent rural development, enabling more informed, inclusive, and sustainable innovation adoption across India’s diverse village ecosystems.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Reimagining Rural Innovation in India – RuTAGe Smart Village Centers and the Village Readiness Level (VRL) Framework","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-07-08 10:34:47","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7064214/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"74e38115-06ca-446a-844d-6b3eb6ddd8d2","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 8th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-07-08T10:34:47+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-07-08 10:34:47","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7064214","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7064214","identity":"rs-7064214","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}