The NITI Aayog is all set to open 1,000 new Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) to facilitate innovation in schools this year all across India. With the setting up of these, the count of total labs will shoot up to about 1,500. The schools which will house these labs will receive a grant of ₹20 lakh each to provide proper facilities and infrastructure. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, in a statement, said,
This year, NITI Aayog calls for applications from all schools, government and private, to fund 1,000 new ATLs.
He added that companies like IBM and Intel are keen to provide mentorship to students. Also, founders of Ola, Paytm, and Oyo have shown their interest. As NITI Aayog says,
To maximize the impact of the ATLs, AIM will soon be launching Mentor India—a strategic nation-building initiative to engage leaders who can guide and mentor students in the ATLs. Mentor India is envisaged to be the largest formal volunteer network in India.
With the ATL initiative, NITI Aayog envisions to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among students in the nation. These labs provide students with “do it yourself” kits and instruments pertaining to electronics, robotics, sensors, science, 3D printers, and computers, as well as infrastructural facilities including meeting rooms.
In order to foster inventiveness among students, ATL also plans to conduct different activities ranging from regional and national level competitions, designing and fabrication of products, lecture series, exhibitions, workshops on problem-solving, etc. at periodic intervals.
Last year, the Aayog had received over 13,000 applications from several schools all across the states and Union Territories. It had chosen 457 schools out o f those to establish these labs under the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM). NITI Aayog had added,
To maximize the impact of the ATLs, AIM will soon be launching Mentor India—a strategic nation-building initiative to engage leaders who can guide and mentor students in the ATLs. Mentor India is envisaged to be the largest formal volunteer network in India.
