Government Launches ‘Gems of India’ Challenge for Digital Creators

The programme forms part of the government's broader efforts to strengthen India's creative economy and encourage local storytelling through digital platforms.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has launched the pilot phase of the 'Gems of India' Challenge, a new national initiative designed to discover and support grassroots digital creators while showcasing the unique identity of districts across the country. The programme forms part of the government's broader efforts to strengthen India's creative economy and encourage local storytelling through digital platforms.

Built around the MyWAVES platform under WAVES OTT, the challenge invites creators to produce short videos that capture the culture, heritage, tourism, history and traditions of their districts, giving local stories a national audience.

Challenge encourages local stories through digital platforms

The initiative builds on the MyWAVES citizen creator platform, introduced by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to promote user-generated content and expand opportunities for India's growing creator community.

Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Chanchal Kumar said every district has its own story and the challenge provides young creators with an opportunity to bring those stories to life while celebrating India's cultural diversity. The programme is expected to create a nationwide network of storytellers who document local traditions, achievements and places that often receive little national attention.

Participants will be required to submit original videos lasting between one and three minutes through the MyWAVES section of the WAVES OTT platform. The pilot phase will accept entries from August 1 to August 31, 2026.

Pilot begins across selected states and Union Territories

The first phase of the challenge will cover Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, and Ladakh. The Ministry is implementing the programme in partnership with Prasar Bharati, My Bharat and the respective state and district administrations. Cultural organisations and educational institutions will also help encourage participation and support content creation at the local level.

To expand the programme's reach, the Ministry has partnered with YouTube and Meta, which will promote the challenge among their creator communities and help connect more digital storytellers with the initiative.

Winners to receive awards worth up to ₹5 lakh

The challenge offers awards at three levels to recognise outstanding content creators. District-level winners can receive up to 20 awards of ₹50,000 each in every participating district.

One creator from each district will move forward to compete for a state-level award of ₹2 lakh. During the nationwide rollout, selected state winners will become eligible for national awards of ₹5 lakh each. District and state administrations will form jury panels made up of experts from culture, tourism, heritage, media and academia to evaluate the entries.

Nationwide expansion planned after pilot phase

The government plans to use lessons from the pilot phase to expand the Gems of India Challenge across all states and Union Territories. The broader objective is to build a strong network of digital creators who highlight the cultural richness, history and identity of every district while contributing to India's growing creative and digital economy.

By encouraging authentic local storytelling, the initiative seeks to give emerging creators greater visibility while preserving regional narratives for audiences across the country.