Education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ and union minister WCD and textiles Smriti Zubin Irani on Tuesday jointly launched Toycathon-2021 as well as the Toycathon portal.
Toycathon is aimed to conceptualise innovative toys based on the Indian value system which will inculcate the positive behaviour and good value among children. The idea behind the initiative is to help develop India into a global hub for toys and games. At present, the size of the toy market in India is about one billion USD, out of which 80% of toys are imported. “The launch of Toycathon is an endeavor by the government to create an ecosystem for the domestic toy industry and the local manufacturers, tapping the untapped resources and utilising their potential,” said the education minister.
What is Toycathon 2021?
This is a special kind of hackathon where students and teachers from schools and colleges, design experts, toy experts and startups will get together to crowd source ideas for developing toys and games that are based on Indian culture and ethos, local folklore and heroes, and Indian value systems.
The Toycathon is based on nine themes viz. Indian culture, history, knowledge of India and ethos; Learning, education and schooling; Social and human values; Occupations and specific fields; Environment; Divyang ; Fitness and sport; Out of the box, creative and logical thinking; and Rediscovering/redesigning traditional Indian toys.
The Toycathon will have three variants of tracks – Junior Level, Senior Level and Start up Level, and will allow participation of students and teachers from schools, colleges and universities apart from startups and toy experts. Participants will have two options for idea submission – they can either submit ideas for the published problem statements or under novel toy concepts category.
Students and faculty members participating in Toycathon can get prizes up to Rs 50 lakh.
For participation in Toycathon 2021, click here. The Proposals can be submitted online between 5-20 January 2021.
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