Govt launches 'Viksit Bharat Buildathon' to push for innovation among school students

New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) The Ministry of Education and Atal Innovation Mission will conduct a 'Viksit Bharat Buildathon', a nationwide initiative to inspire innovation, creativity and problem-solving among school students, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday.

The Buildathon, the largest ever school hackathon, will mobilise more than one crore students from 1.5 lakh schools across the country to ideate, design, and develop prototypes under four themes, he said.

"We propose to reach out to all schools in the country with classes 6-12, and encourage every child in those schools to be a part of ideation for Viksit Bharat by 2047. Ideation will be based on four themes, namely atmanirbhar Bharat, swadeshi, vocal for local and samriddh Bharat," Pradhan said at a press conference.

"The event brings together students, educators, and innovators to build solutions for a self-reliant India, aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047," he added.

According to MoE officials, the Buildathon aims to inspire creative thinking for national development, promote self-reliance and sustainable growth, and engage schools in synchronized innovation.

It also aims to project India as a global innovation capital through a potential world record and celebrate young problem-solvers on national and global platforms, they said.

It builds on the success of the School Innovation Marathon 2024, which led to programs like the Student Innovator Programme (SIP) and Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP), along with patents and start-up ventures from Atal Tinkering Labs.

Students will have a window from September 23 to October 6 to register on the Viksit Bharat Buildathon portal.

"This will be followed by a preparation period for schools, from October 6 to October 13, in which teachers will guide student teams through the registration process on the portal. Students will then submit their ideas and prototypes on the portal. The core of the Buildathon, the Live Synchronized Innovation Event, will be held on October 13," said School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar.

"Following the event, students will submit their final entries from October 13 to October 31. A panel of experts will then evaluate the submissions over a two-month period, from November 1 to December 31. The culmination of the Buildathon will be in January 2026 with the announcement of the results and the felicitation of top 1,000 winners," he added. PTI GJS GJS KVK KVK