ATAL Innovation Mission – USPC Prelims

By /
Ministry/ Department: NITI Ayog
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) including Self-Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU) 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.
The Atal Innovation Mission shall have two core functions:
  • Entrepreneurship promotion through Self-Employment and Talent Utilization, wherein innovators would be supported and mentored to become successful entrepreneurs
  • Innovation promotion: to provide a platform where innovative ideas are generated
Scheme:
  • It aims to create high-class incubation facilities with necessary infrastructure in terms of capital equipment and operating facilities, coupled with the availability of sectoral experts for mentoring the start-ups.
  • The scheme is known as Atal Incubation Centre scheme.
  • The scheme focuses on the establishment of incubation centres in underserved and unserved areas to support inclusive growth.
  • Under the scheme, Atal Incubation Centre can be established either in Publicly funded institutions or Private sector funded institutions or in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
  • The sub-schemes of AIM include
    • Establishing Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) and
    • Atal Incubation Centers (AICs), for providing scaling up support to Established Incubation Centres.
  • It also includes finding ultra-low cost solution to India’s most intractable problems through Atal Grand Challenges and Atal Vikas Challenges.
Atal Tinkering Labs:
  • ATLs will function as innovation hubs for student innovators to explore solutions to unique local problems which they come across in their everyday lives.
  • These hubs will allow students to explore solutions to unique local problems and provide access to technologies like 3D Printing, robotics, Internet of Things (IoT) and microprocessors.
  • NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has selected 3,000 additional schools for establishment of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs).
  • The new additions take number of such ATLs to 5,441 representing all states and five out of seven union territories. It will facilitate the creation of over one million neoteric child innovators by 2020.
  • These additional schools will expand reach of ATL program and increase number of children exposed to tinkering and innovation.
  • The selected schools will receive grant of Rs. 20 lakh spread over next 5 years to establish labs for nurturing innovation and entrepreneurial spirit among secondary school children across India.
Atal Community Innovation Centres:
  • The Atal Community Innovation Centre initiative has been launched under Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), a flagship initiative of NITI Aayog.
  • NITI Aayog is tasked upon to open innovation Centers in all Gram Panchayats of country to promote local innovation.
  • It has been launched to focus on 484 backward districts where innovation infrastructure is very weak.
  • It has been specifically designed for underserved, unserved regions of Tier 1 cities, Tier 2 cities and Tier 3 cities, North-East, Jammu and Kashmir, Smart Cities, Aspirational districts as well as rural and tribal regions of India.
Factual Information:
  • Under NITI Ayog
  • AIM started with initial sum of Rs. 500 crore
  • Started in 2015

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