Dharmendra Pradhan hosts grand finale of Smart India Hackathon 2024

NEW DELHI : The union minister for education Dharmendra Pradhan, virtually inaugurated the grand finale of the Smart India Hackathon 2024 today, December 11. The union minister of state for education Sukanta Majumdar was present at the inauguration. Other senior officials including the AICTE chairman, TG Sitharam, and students joined the virtual event held simultaneously at 51 centres nationwide.

According to the official statement, more than 250 problem statements have been submitted this year by 54 ministries, departments, state governments, PSUs, and industries. There’s a 150% increase in internal hackathons at the institute level, growing from over 900 in SIH 2023 to 2,247 in SIH 2024, making this the largest edition.

"More than 86,000 teams have participated in SIH 2024 at the institute level and around 49,000 student teams (each consisting of six students and two mentors) have been recommended by these institutes for the national level round," the official statement adds.

Dharmendra Pradhan expressed his gratitude to PM Narendra Modi for inspiring with the vision of SIH, which has become a hotspot of innovation and creativity where students from across the country put their minds to find solutions to contemporary challenges.

Sukanta Majumdar, while addressing the event, emphasized how SIH has transformed challenges into opportunities and paved the way for young minds to contribute to nation-building.

Also read DST scheme an ‘eyewash’; fellowships delayed months, project approval takes years, allege women scientists

About Smart India Hackathon (SIH)

The Smart India Hackathon (SIH) is an initiative that aims to provide students with a platform to solve the pressing problems of ministries and departments of the government, industries, and other organizations. SIH was launched in 2017 and gained massive popularity among young innovators.

The seventh edition of the SIH began concurrently at 51 centres nationwide today. The Software Edition will run nonstop for 36 hours and the Hardware Edition will continue from December 11 to 15, 024.

Like previous SIH editions, the student teams will work on either the problem statements given by the ministries, departments, and industries or submit their idea in the student innovation category against any of the 17 themes linked to sectors of national importance and national priorities.

The themes include healthcare, supply chain and logistics, smart technologies, heritage and culture, sustainability, education and skill development, water, agriculture etc.