New Delhi, Oct 13 (IANS) Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday kicked off the country’s largest school hackathon, ‘Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025′, vowing to nurture global-level innovators in schools to help make Viksit Bharat@2047. “We can achieve the target of Viksit Bharat@2047 in the next 22 years only by using the innovations of children who are in school at present,” he said. The country’s economy, health services, education sector, agriculture and environment need new ideas and imagination, and only the new generation in school can contribute,” he said.

He said the ‘Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025′, scheduled between 10 AM and 11 PM on Monday, is a means to germinate the idea of becoming job-creators in the young generation. “The commitment to become job-creators is getting stronger among the new generation and strengthens the economy,” he said. This Buildathon is the beginning to prepare the next generation to shoulder the responsibility of global innovation, aligning with the priority of the New Education Policy 2025, he said. This is India’s largest-ever student innovation initiative and a historic step toward the vision of Viksit Bharat, he said.

“The Buildathon is an opportunity given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the young generation to dream big about Viksit Bharat. I thank all students, mentor-teachers, parents and officials of education departments of States and the Centre for organising this event,” he said. The ‘Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025’ is a nationwide initiative inviting schools and teachers to empower students from classes 6 to 12 to showcase their creativity and problem-solving skills. The event is aimed at strengthening the culture of innovation at the school level by encouraging students to ideate or build prototypes on four themes – Atmanirbhar Bharat, Swadeshi, Vocal for Local, and Samriddh Bharat.

The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, has launched the Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025, which has received an overwhelming response from students and is engaging participants from about 3 lakh schools nationwide. Earlier, giving a major boost to the initiative, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, Test Pilot, Indian Air Force and Astronaut with ISRO, and Brand Ambassador of the Viksit Bharat Buildathon, in his video message, urged students to join the initiative and contribute to Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Addressing students, he highlighted that the Buildathon offers a unique platform for Grades 6–12 to showcase creativity. He said that every idea, big or small, can help shape Viksit Bharat 2047. Students must think innovatively and develop prototypes addressing real-life challenges, including Vocal for Local and harnessing the potential of Swadeshi, he added. The Buildathon features a Rs 1 crore award pool, which will be distributed among 10 national-level winners, 100 state-level winners, and 1,000 district-level winners.