New Delhi, Human Resources Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on Saturday said to make the country ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) during Corona era, through ‘Hackathon’, will take the country to pinnacle of progress.Speaking after launching the grand finale of the online hackathon,
happening for the first time through video conferencing, here on Saturday,Dr Nishank said that through the hackathon competition, in a short time i.e. in just 36 hours, the problems of various central government ministries, state government departments and industry will be solved. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the grand finale of this online Hackathon (software) at 1600 hrs on Saturday. ”It is a very happy moment for us that we are organizing this competition amidst the corona pandemic in the country in which thousands of students are participating,” he said. ”Through this competition, ‘we will solve the problems of the country. Earlier also through this competition we have worked to solve many problems,”he said. He said that the Hackathon has increased the spirit of competition among the students and a passion has been generated to solve the problems of the country. The HRD Minister said that this is proving to be a good platform to build a self-reliant India and from this we will take the nation to the pinnacle of progress. The Prime Minister will address the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2020 via video conferencing. He will also be interacting with students on the occasion. The Smart India Hackathon is a nationwide initiative to provide students with a platform to solve some of the pressing problems we face in our daily lives, and thus inculcate a culture of product innovation and a mindset of problem-solving. It has proved to be extremely successful in promoting out-of-the-box thinking in young minds The first edition of Smart India Hackathon 2017 saw participation of 42000 students which increased to 1 lakh in 2018 and to 2 lakh in 2019. The first round of Smart India Hackathon 2020 saw participation of more than 4.5 lakh students. The Grand Finale of the software edition this year is being organized online by connecting all the participants throughout the nation together over a specially-built advanced platform. More than 10,000 students will be competing to solve 243 problem statements from 37 central government departments, 17 state governments and 20 industries.