75 lakh students are working on more than 12 lakh projects in Atal Tinkering Labs: PM Modi

Atal Tinkering Labs, which was started a few years back, is today becoming the innovation nursery of the country. Today, more than 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs have been set up in 35 states and 700 districts of the country.

Today more than 75 lakh students are working wholeheartedly on more than 12 lakh innovation projects in Atal Tinkering Labs, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

PM Modi addressing an event on National Technology Day said that be it India's economic growth, sustainable development goals, or creating an inclusive ecosystem for innovation, technology is essential for us at every step. And that's why today India is moving forward in this field with a new thinking, with a 360° holistic approach.

India does not consider technology as a medium to dominate, but a tool to speed up the country's progress. Prime Minister said: “And I am very happy to see that this year's theme has been kept as 'School to Startups- Igniting Young Minds to Innovate'. In this golden age of freedom, the future of India, our today's young generation, our today's students will decide. Today's young generation has new dreams, new resolutions. Their energy, their enthusiasm, their enthusiasm, this is a great strength of India.”

He said that the great scientist and former President of our country Dr. Kalam used to say- Knowledge with action, converts adversity into prosperity. Today, when India is getting empowered as a knowledge society, it is taking action equally fast. To inspire the young minds of India towards innovation, a strong foundation has been laid in the country in the last nine years. Atal Tinkering Labs - ATL, which was started a few years back, is today becoming the innovation nursery of the country. Today, more than 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs have been set up in 35 states and 700 districts of the country.

“And it is not that this mission of science, technology, innovation and incubation is limited only to big cities. About 60 percent of Atal Tinkering Labs are open in government and rural schools. You can imagine, the meaning of education is changing for a large number of children, they are getting inspired towards innovation. You will be happy to know that today more than 75 lakh students are working wholeheartedly on more than 12 lakh innovation projects in Atal Tinkering Labs,” Modi said.

He said that in the coming time, lakhs of junior scientists are going to reach every corner of the country after coming out of the schools. Hand-holding them, helping them in every way, helping them implement their ideas, this is a big responsibility of all of us.

Today hackthons have a big role to play in everything from innovation to security. The government is continuously promoting them. We have to take forward the hackthon culture, Startups have to prepare for new challenges. There should be hand-holding of these talents, so that they do not have to struggle to move forward, we have to create a framework for this. Especially, there should be an institutionalized system to keep the youth coming out of Atal Tinkering Labs involved.

PM Modi said: “Can we similarly identify 100 labs in the country in different areas, which should be youth driven? In areas like clean energy and natural farming, where the country has a special focus, we have to promote research and technology. For this also it is very important to involve the youth in mission mode.”

Read more:

• IIT Roorkee launches Centre of Space Science & Technology with ISRO

• Delhi University skills over 400 participants from 90 institutions