Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the youths during the grand finale of the ‘Smart India Hackathon (SIH)‘ via video conferencing on Wednesday (December 11, 2024).
| Photo Credit: Videograb/PTI

The government is introducing reforms to remove roadblocks in the path of the country’s youth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told young innovators on Wednesday (December 11, 2024), asserting that the future of the world will be driven by innovation and knowledge.

Interacting with the innovators during the grand finale of the ‘Smart India Hackathon (SIH)‘, the Prime Minister said the youth today is developing a feeling of ownership towards finding solutions for the country’s challenges.

“India’s strength is its innovative youth and technology power. We have introduced a new National Education Policy to nurture a scientific mindset. The government is removing roadblocks in the path of the country’s youth by introducing reforms,” PM Modi said while addressing more than 1,300 student teams via video conferencing.

“The future of the world will be driven by innovation and knowledge and India’s youth today is developing a feeling of ownership towards finding solutions for the country’s challenges,” he added.

The seventh edition of the SIH concurrently began at 51 nodal centres nationwide on Wednesday (December 11, 2024). The Software Edition will run nonstop for 36 hours, while the Hardware Edition will continue from December 11 to 15.

Like past editions, the student teams will work on either the problem statements given by ministries, departments or industries or submit their ideas under the Student Innovation category against any of the 17 themes linked to sectors of national importance.

These sectors are — healthcare, supply chain and logistics, smart technologies, heritage and culture, sustainability, education and skill development, water, agriculture and food, emerging technologies, and disaster management.

According to the Ministry of Education, this year, more than 250 problem statements have been submitted by 54 ministries, departments, state governments, PSUs and industries.

“A 150% increase has been recorded in internal hackathons at the institute level, growing from over 900 in the SIH 2023 to around 2,247 in SIH 2024, making this the largest edition so far. More than 86,000 teams have participated in the SIH 2024 at the institute level and around 49,000 student teams (each consisting of 6 students and 2 mentors) have been recommended by these institutes for the national level round,” a Ministry official said.