Niti Aayog’s ‘Mentor India’ campaign to promote a culture of innovation

The objective is to mentor and train students.

The Government is determined to bring in a culture of innovation in India. Acting towards this area, NITI Aayog, the think tank of the country will be launching a ‘Mentor India’ campaign to guide the students from the Atal Tinkering Labs. The campaign will promote nation building through innovations.

There are 900 Atal Tinkering Labs running currently across the country. These labs are part of the Atal Innovation Mission, launched by the Government earlier.

Students from classes six to twelve learn innovation skills at Atal Tinkering Labs—equipped with 3D printers, robotics & electronics development tools, IoT & sensors—which help them develop new ideas and encourage them to experiment.

As per the ‘Mentor India’ campaign, the students will be guided and trained by leaders and mentors from different domains. These mentors will be enabling the students instead of instructing them. They will spend about one to two hours every week in these labs to guide and tutor these young talents.  Students will be trained in design, computational thinking, and so on.

NITI Aayog, in an official statement, said that “The campaign envisages to nurture and guide students in the Atal Tinkering Labs. These labs are non-prescriptive by nature, and mentors are expected to be enablers rather than instructors”.