Minister Lodha urges school students to join Seva First Innovation Challenge

The Union skills department has organised the Seva First Innovation Challenge, a multi-state innovation competition. Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha appealed to all school students in the state to take part. The state government's Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation department is working towards this under the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Lodha was speaking at a meeting at Mantralaya with the State Innovation and Research Foundation (SIR) of Solapur. The aim of the meeting was to increase participation in the contest at the level of Zilla Parishad schools too. Dr Shrikant Patil, chief executive officer of the Maharashtra State Innovation Society, and the foundation's state coordinators Siddharam Mashale and Balasaheb Wagh were present.

Lodha said the application process for the contest began on September 21 and applications can be made until October 17, 2026. Innovators, students, student groups, researchers, professors, startups, MSMEs, companies, social organisations, educational and research institutions and other innovation teams can take part.

He said students in rural areas have great potential to understand local problems and find creative solutions to them. The main aim of the contest is that this potential should not remain confined to school projects but translate into innovations of real use to society. He also noted that students need guidance from identifying a problem to developing a solution and putting it into practice.

Innovative ideas will be selected from 5 sub-sectors in each of 10 major sectors. In all, 50 winners will be chosen and each will be given a work order worth Rs 10 lakh. This means students' ideas will not merely win a prize but also get the chance to be put into practice.

Lodha said non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the field of innovation should come forward to increase the participation of rural students. Information about the initiative will have to reach various rural schools, including Zilla Parishad schools, so that students can be involved. He also asked for efforts to bring in the maximum number of innovative ideas from categories such as women, youth and open to all.

Students should suggest practical solutions to problems in agriculture, water, health, education, sanitation, environment, transport and everyday life. NGOs should guide students through the entire process of identifying a local problem, developing a solution and submitting an application. They should prepare a clear action plan covering the number of schools in their area of work, the outreach target, the number of students to be informed and the number of quality applications to be submitted. The government, schools and voluntary organisations must work together to give grassroots students' ideas a state-level platform. Lodha said those wishing to take part can visit https://sevainnovationchallenge.in/.

Siddharam Mashale said the State Innovation and Research Foundation (SIR Foundation) in Solapur is working to promote quality education, technology and innovative initiatives in the state's schools. The Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation department is running the competition in cooperation with the School Education department. The foundation will carry information about it to students in Zilla Parishad schools. He said efforts will be made to increase their participation so that students' ideas get a platform at the state and national levels.