Six institutes felicitated under Utkrisht Santhan Vishwakarma Award

The valedictory function of Vishwakarma Awards 2019 was organised in the All India Council for Technical Education.

Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank presents Vishwakarma Awards 2019 to the winners in New Delhi today. The valedictory function of Vishwakarma Awards 2019 was organised in the All India Council for Technical Education. A total of 23 teams under various subcategories were the recipient of the Chatra Vishwakarma Awards (CVA). Six institutes were felicitated by the Union Minister under the Utkrisht Santhan Vishwakarma Award (USVA).

Speaking on the occasion Shri Nishank congratulated all the awardees and said that this moment inspires everyone. Union Minister said that "I got to know that among 6676 teams, 117 teams selected for the final and among them 23 teams got the awards in different categories, this shows that India has lots of talent". He further said that all the teams have great potential and very special. These students are an asset to the country, he added. He further said that students from different teams have set the new benchmarks for the others.

Shri Nishank said that AICTE is continuously doing a good job by giving industry-based education. He said that projects created by students from different teams are solving the problem of the common man. Union Minister apples AICTE to give more chances to such students because they are future of India. He also appreciated NITI Ayog and IIT Delhi for supporting students by bringing their ideas into reality.

AICTE has been organizing Vishwakarma Awards since the year 2017. The awards have been instituted for promoting the innovative spirit and scientific temperament for the holistic development of society through the stakeholders of its approved institutes. The Awards are aimed at motivating young individuals, inspiring leaders and institutions/ organizations to raise their performance in their specific domains leading to significant contribution towards the growth and development of the Nation as a whole. The competition/ call for entries for the third edition of the Vishwakarma Award for the year 2019 was earlier announced by HRD Minister on 11 Sep 2019 and was based on the theme of "How to enhance the income of Village”. Indian Society of Technical Education (ISTE) and Atal Innovation Mission of NITI Ayog also agreed to collaborate with AICTE for the Vishwakarma Awards 2019.

Applications were called in 02 categories:

Category-I: Chhatra Vishwakarma Awards (CVA)for Outstanding Innovative Team (for Students & Mentor).

Category-II: Utkrisht Sansthan Vishwakarma Award (USVA)for exemplary Institutional intervention.

Under CVA, 2372 teams from various institutes, pan India, had submitted their solutions. After the following three stages of evaluation, 117 Teams were selected to exhibit their prototype at the National Convention and Exhibition held at AICTE HQ, New Delhi on 24 Feb 2020. Finally, 23 teams were selected by a jury for an award under 8 different sub-categories. Appreciation certificates and cash prices (Rs 51,000, Rs 31,000 & Rs 21,000) were awarded to the top three teams in each sub-category by the Hon'ble Minister.

In order to promote the institutional intervention, the Council had invited nominations under USVA with an aim to recognize institutions that have remarkably contributed towards the growth and development of a village. A total of 188 nominations were received. Subsequently, after a detailed scrutiny and field visit, six institutes have been felicitated by the Hon'ble Minister during the event. Three institutes were honored with certificates for their meritorious work in the village development while another three were recognized for best practices.

NITI Ayog has agreed to support the shortlisted students by bringing their ideas into reality by supporting them through their pre-incubation centers of ATAL Community Innovation centre (ACIC). AICTE &MHRD’s Innovation Cell has also announced to provide financial assistance to a few of the best teams of Chhatra Vishwakarma Awards after following the due process of evaluation. In addition to this, IIT Delhi has also agreed to support the best technical interventions of Vishwakarma Awards through their Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan (UBA) program by providing financial support to the institution for implementing their ideas in the village.

During the event, four MoUs were also exchanged between AICTE & IIT Kanpur, IIT Ropar, IIT Bhubaneshwar & IISER Pune in the presence of the Hon'ble Minister. The MoUs are aimed at creating internship opportunities for the students of J&K with an objective to provide such students an exposure to the academic culture at higher learning Institutes and to inspire, empower, and enhance their employability. The Hon'ble Minister also launched the digital version of the AICTE Activity Book which has been hosted on the web portal of AICTE. The Activity Book provides a comprehensive compilation of important initiatives and schemes being run by the Council for its stakeholders. It also has an active dashboard that shall continually provide an update on the beneficiaries (facts and figures) of the various schemes/ initiatives.

(With Inputs from PIB)