PM Modi to interact with Toycathon 2021 participants.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with participants of Toycathon 2021 on June 24 via video link. The Grand Finale of Toycathon 2021 was inaugurated by Union Minister Smriti Irani on Monday. Toycathon 2021 was jointly launched by several ministries including education, textiles, women and child development, MSME among others on January 5. The Toycathon aims to crowd-source innovative toys and games. Around 1.2 lakh participants from across India have registered for the Toycathon.
More than 17,000 ideas for Toycathon 2021 have been submitted and 1,567 of them have been shortlisted for the three-day online Toycathon Grand Finale from June 22 to June 24. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the Grand Finale will have teams with digital toy ideas, while a separate physical event will be organized for non-digital toy concepts, according to a government statement.
The Toycathon aims to boost India's domestic as well as the international toy market. Under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, Toycathon 2021 was conceived to encourage India's young and innovative minds to conceptualize novel toys and games based on Indian history, culture and mythology, the statement said.
According to the government, India's toy market stands at around 1.5 billion USD, which is mainly dominated by imported toys. Toycathon 2021 is an opportunity for students, teachers, start-ups and toy experts to work on their innovative ideas and win prizes worth Rs 50 lakh.