To commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under NITI Aayog’s umbrella, in partnership with Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) India, has kicked off ‘The Gandhian Challenge.’ This unique endeavor offers every child across India an opportunity to formulate innovative solutions that can help shape a sustainable India, inspired by Gandhi’s principles.
The Gandhian Challenge
The challenge runs from October 2nd to October 20th and marks 70 years of collaboration between the Government of India and UNICEF India to fulfill all rights for every child. The most innovative and sustainable ideas and solutions will be highlighted as part of a broader children’s movement emerging across districts in India.
Participants are encouraged to present their ideas and solutions through two major categories: Art & Innovation and Science, Technology & Innovation. The former includes letters, poems, paintings, videos, and photos, among other mediums. Whereas the latter focuses on technological areas like Robotics, IoT, sensors, and 3D printers.
About Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is an initiative of NITI Aayog, with a focus on promoting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across India. The mission has six major initiatives:
| Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) | Creating a problem-solving mindset across schools in India |
|---|---|
| Atal Incubation Centers | Fostering world-class start-ups and adding a new dimension to the incubator model |
| Atal New India Challenges | Fostering product innovations and aligning them to the needs of various sectors and ministries |
| Mentor India Campaign | A national Mentor network in collaboration with public sector, corporates, and institutions |
| Atal Community Innovation Center | To stimulate community-centric innovation and ideas in unserved or underserved regions of the country |
| ARISE | To stimulate innovation and research in the MSME industry |
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
As a crucial part of the United Nations, UNICEF works alongside government institutions, communities, civil society organizations, and the private sector to ensure children’s rights. They operate according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Their new initiative, Generation Unlimited, aims to secure education, learning, training, self-employment, or suitable employment for every individual aged 10 to 24 years by 2030. This global partnership is guided towards up-scaling proven solutions associated with secondary age-education, skills for learning, employability, and decent work, with a particular emphasis on empowering girls.