From the premises of Maganwadi in Wardha where Mahatma Gandhi founded the “All India Village Industries Association” (AIVIA) and from where the famous economist Dr. J.C.Kumarappa gave shape to the Gandhian concept of rural economy, Centre of Science for Villages (CSV) started functioning in 1976.
The choice of the venue and the initial work was done under the guidance of Acharya Vinoba Bhave who kindly became the co-signatory of the scheme.
The concept behind the establishment of CSV was to develop a centre for identification and definition of technological problems in rural areas on one hand and on the other, the centre was to identify proximately suitable S & T advances to mitigate them, evolve them into technologies, and convert them into livelihood forms and to make them rurally digestible before mass transfer. Thus CSV was to act as (and be) a two way link between the portals of the national scientific laboratories and the doors of the mud huts of Rural India.
The framework was evolved in identification, evolution and acting as a two way consultation with the top scientists and planners of the day including Prof. D.S.Kothari, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Dr. Y. Nayudamma and other literati in the then Indian Scientific universe. Over the next few years, all of them worked on the Advisory Committee of CSV, which met many times to give a proper direction to the work.
The Founder Dr. Devendra Kumar had joined AIVIA in 1946 as incharge of its Research Laboratory. He worked there for six years and then went to experience and understands the life of the poor in rural India by living amongst them in a remote village Machala near Indore (Madhya Pradesh), for eight years. Then he also worked in the Sarvodaya Movement and Khadi & Village Industries activities before being called to Delhi to take over as General Secretary of the Gandhi Memorial Trust of India (Gandhi Smarak Nidhi) and National Committee of Gandhi Centenary where he spent 11 years, i.e. till 1976. He was then on many National bodies of regional and national laboratories and department of rural development.