The government is actively reaching out to its citizens seeking inputs on key developmental challenges facing India as NITI Aayog today kicked off phase I of the 'Grand Innovation Challenge' today.
The idea behind the programme, launched on the MyGov portal, is to involve citizens at the very first stage of innovation for India's development, the policy think-tank said in a press release.
"We strongly believe in working together with states as Team India, involving every citizen to ensure India's progress and leaving no one behind. With a clear focus on the social sector and India's most vulnerable sections, we seek to involve citizens in crowd-sourcing ideas to address challenges facing India's development," it said.
In phase I of the Challenge, Aayog wants the citizens to put forth what they think are significant challenges across the board and critical issues to address in order to develop the social sector.
Modelled in the spirit of decentralised planning, the phase I ends on April 25. Entries should be submitted at https://mygov.In/task/niti-aayog-grand-innovation-challenge/.
In phase II, based on a short-list of the urgent challenges as suggested by citizens, Aayog will seek innovative solutions to address them using appropriate technologies. Through this Grand Challenge, it encourages innovation, entrepreneurship and citizen-led solutions to problems.
"Throwing our weight entirely behind these challenges, NITI Aayog will ensure the best, innovative solutions to pressing challenges receive full backing from the Government of India - from funding, mentoring, technical and academic support to scaling it up across the country and absorbing them in government schemes," it stated.
These solutions should be specifically designed for India, made in India and adopted by the government.
Citizens are expected to pick one of the 14 crucial sectors as a priority to ensure benefits to the most vulnerable, it added.
At the end of the process, NITI Aayog will zero in on 10 such challenges from among those suggested by the citizens.
The best 10 entries will receive certificates of acknowledgement from NITI Aayog. Furthermore, short-listed candidates will be invited to NITI Aayog as special guests for a discussion on the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), along with key policymakers of the government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has at various forums reiterated the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship for India's development. NITI Aayog is spearheading this key programme by formulating guidelines for implementing AIM.
