New Delhi, Sep 24 The BJP has launched a Seva First Innovation Challenge (SFIC) as part of its month-long nationwide Seva Sankalp Abhiyan to commemorate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 25 years in public life.
The SFIC is being rolled out across the country to provide young Indians an opportunity to identify problems in their villages, towns and communities and develop innovative and practical solutions to address them, according to the party.
The Seva Sankalp Abhiyan was launched on Modi’s birthday on September 17 with a series of programmes focused on youth outreach and public participation.
“Twenty-five years of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as head of government — first as chief minister of Gujarat and subsequently as prime minister of India — have been marked by countless achievements.
“Among the most important have been the prime minister’s commitment to creating a better future for India’s youth, his trust in their potential, and his belief that innovation can provide solutions to people’s problems,” said Keralam BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is also the in-charge of SFIC.
Under the initiative, young people will be encouraged to identify problems and build solutions aimed at serving their respective states and the nation. Their efforts will be rewarded with prizes and investment opportunities.
The challenge seeks to encourage young innovators to move beyond identifying problems and develop solutions that can be tested, demonstrated and potentially implemented, Chandrasekhar said.
Students from schools, polytechnics and colleges, as well as independent innovators, are being invited to participate and become solution-builders for problems affecting their communities.
The SFIC has already commenced its zonal rollout, according to BJP national spokesperson and national media co-incharge Pradeep Bhandari.
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha launched the challenge on September 18 at Gandhinagar Town Hall, with iHub Gujarat as the nodal institute for the zone.
West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar launched it on September 19 at the IIT Kharagpur Research Park in New Town, Kolkata, with IIT Kharagpur as the nodal institute.
The challenge for Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Uttarakhand was launched on September 19 at Delhi Technological University, the nodal university for these states.
Maharashtra rolled out its programme on September 23, while the initiative for Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is scheduled to be launched on Friday, with IISc Bengaluru as the nodal institute.
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim are also scheduled to launch the challenge on Friday.
The remaining states will roll out the SFIC in the coming days, Bhandari said.
The SFIC is designed to take participating teams through a structured innovation process, including problem identification and idea submission, preliminary scrutiny, technical assessment, expert mentoring and boot camps, access to laboratories and maker spaces, prototype development, field demonstrations, technical evaluation and final jury assessment, according to the party.
There is no age ceiling for participation. The programme is intended to reach schools, ITIs, colleges and universities, as well as independent researchers, creating a broad platform for young innovators, it said.
“The initiative aims to create a culture where young Indians do not merely wait for solutions to problems around them but take the initiative to understand the problem, develop a solution and contribute to their communities and the nation,” Chandrasekhar said.
(PTI News)
