Lok Sabha Question No. 3645 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-17
Subject: Atal Tinkering Labs
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: Kirit Premjibhai Solanki

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3645 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.03.2021

## ATAL TINKERING LABS

## 3645. DR. (PROF.) KIRIT PREMJIBHAI SOLANKI:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- (a) the  salient  features  of  Atal  Tinkering  Labs  and  the  benefits  it  has  on  learning outcomes;
- (b) the list of student achievers who have used ATL to make innovations, won awards or made interesting discoveries;
- (c) whether the NITI Aayog is suggesting for making changes in school curriculum so that Atal Tinkering Labs can be used during the learning process and if so, the steps taken in this regard;
- (d) whether there are any waivers for applicants' schools in establishment of ATL labs in Himalayan and Island States; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the numbers of applications filed, accepted and rejected by schools to get ATL in the State of Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

## (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

- (a) Atal  Innovation Mission ('AIM') is Government of India's endeavour to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. Its objective is to serve as a platform for promotion of world-class Innovation Hubs, Grand Challenges, Start-up businesses and other  self-employment  activities,  particularly  in  technology  driven  areas.  AIM  has been  launched  to  create  an  innovation  and  entrepreneurial  ecosystem  in  India  by establishing  new  incubation  centres,  scaling  up  established  incubation  centres  and setting up Atal Tinkering Labs in schools.

The vision of Atal Tinkering Lab initiative is to 'Cultivate 1 Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators'. The objective of this scheme is to foster curiosity, creativity and  imagination  in  young  minds  and  inculcate  skills  such  as  design  mind-set, computational  thinking,  adaptive  learning,  physical  computing,  rapid  calculations, measurements etc. These ATLs are equipped with latest emerging technologies such as electronics, IoT, 3D printing, Robotics, etc.

- (b) Atal Innovation Mission organises various contests/events and programs to foster the spirit  of  innovation  and  creativity  within  young  minds.  Every  year,  AIM  organizes ATL Marathon challenge where top innovations created by students are identified and given  further  support  through  mentoring  and  training  in  collaboration  with  Atal Incubation Centres and AIM partners. The list of top innovation teams is available on the  AIM  website.  For  example,  Atal  Innovation  Mission  has  identified  the  Top  50 Innovations of their last year's ATL Marathon. The details and stories of these Top 50 teams is available on the AIM website. Link: https://www.aim.gov.in/pdf/Coffee\_Table\_Book\_Final.pdf
- (c) The  Atal  Tinkering  Labs  are  set  up  to  nurture  the  curiosity  and  foster  innovation. Currently, ATL ecosystem is set to supplement hands-on learning by inculcating 21st century  skills  such  as  Artificial  Intelligence,  Robotics,  IoT,  Coding,  3D  design,  etc. AIM  is  collaborating  with  relevant  stakeholders  and  has  created  relevant  learning modules  around  the  above  topics  for  inclusion  in  National  Curriculum  Framework, which can be leveraged by the existing school ecosystem.
- (d) Yes, following are the waivers for schools from Hilly/Himalayan and Island states/UTs:
-  Infrastructure  -  All  weather  area  (1,000  sq.  ft.)  instead  of  (1,500  sq.  ft.)  for  plain regions.
-  Enrolment - Min. 250 students in Grade VI - X instead of Min. 400 Grade VI - X for plain regions
- (e) The required information is placed in the table below:

|   State | No. of applications received   | No. of applications accepted (No. of schools selected)   | No. of schools rejected   |
|---------|--------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------|
|    3122 | 791                            | 2331                                                     | Gujarat                   |
|     634 | 134                            | 500                                                      | Uttarakhand               |
|    4698 |                                | 1458 3240                                                | Tamil Nadu                |

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