Education Ministry innovation cell launches MANTHAN 2021; here's all you need to know

Education Ministry on Thursday, August 26 announced that the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have launched ‘MANTHAN 2021’. It has been launched with a view of empowering India’s law enforcement agencies. ‘MANTHAN 2021’ is a unique national Hackathon that will identify innovative concepts and technology solutions for addressing the security challenges of the 21st century faced by intelligence agencies.

MANTHAN 2021: Details

The MANTHAN 2021 will have two phases. In the initial phase, participants will have to submit their concepts against the problem statements which they wish to solve on the portal. The ideas which they will submit will further be evaluated by a group of experts in the field. It has been clearly said in the official release that only innovative ideas will be selected for the second or final round. The final round will be conducted on November 28, 2021. During the final phase, selected participants will have to build the solution to demonstrate their concepts and prove to the juries that their ideas are not only technically feasible but are also importantly implementable. 

Education Ministry's press release reads, "Hackathon “MANTHAN 2021” is a unique national initiative to identify innovative concepts and technology solutions for addressing the security challenges of the 21st century faced by our intelligence agencies. During this 36 hours online hackathon, scheduled from 28th November to 1st December 2021, selected youths from education institutions across the country and registered start-ups will participate to offer strong, safe and effective technology solutions using their technical expertise and innovative skills."

Here is direct link to official website

Additional Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development, Neeraj Sinha was also present at the launch event. He said, "For MANTHAN 2021, BPR&D has released 20 challenge statements which offer a unique opportunity to all our youngsters to think out-of-the-box and develop innovative concepts for solving some of the daunting problems faced by our security agencies. If we like some ideas, then we will work very closely with those teams and support their implementation."

All India Council for Technical Education Chairman said, "From last 5 years, we have organised many national and international Hackathons by collaborating with different agencies as we are keen on offering real life challenges or problems for students to work. We want them to solve problems which are critical for our country and from that perspective we believe that this MANTHAN Hackathon is very crucial as it has direct application in strengthening our national security, he added. He hoped that a large number of youngsters will participate in this initiative and will help BPR&D to identify best of the minds and ideas from our country."