Mansur Hoda
Mansur Hoda (1930–2001) was born in a middle-class Muslim family in the Indian city of Chhapra, Bihar. Mansur Hoda as a student, had worked as a research volunteer for the Intermediate Technology Group. After working for Indian Railways for ten years, he joined Bihar government as Inspector of Factories. Mansur Hoda was greatly influenced by E. F. Schumacher of Small Is Beautiful fame. Mansur Hoda was absolutely convinced by the Schumacher's concept of intermediate technology or appropriate technology – something between the sickle and the combine harvester, the hoe and the tractor – as the only feasible solution to the problems of massive unemployment that haunted India and other developing countries. In an article published in The Observer, E. F. Schumacher had strongly advocated for the "intermediate technologies" focusing on the need and skills possessed by the people of developing countries. He rejected the conventional aid policies which were based on transfer of modern large-scale technologies to poor countries lacking technical skills and mass market for them. This article aroused much interest and encouraged a few enthusiasts like George McRobie, Alfred Latham-Koenig and Mansur Hoda along with E. F Schumacher to create an advisory centre to promote the use of