Govt Urges Students to Tackle Real-World Consumer Issues

• Smart India Hackathon 2025 invites youth to solve real consumer challenges.
• Students tackle issues like onion waste, gold testing, and e-commerce accuracy.
• Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 fosters innovation and design thinking in schools.

The Consumer Affairs Department has collaborated with the Education Ministry to issue a challenge to the nation's youth. The responsibility lies with the nation's youth; they have devised innovative solutions to six genuine consumer issues.

It’s an aspect of Smart India Hackathon 2025, a countrywide innovation initiative leveraging student intellect to address challenges impacting millions of individuals.

The department states that five out of the six problem statements remain open for submissions until October 15, while the onion storage challenge ended on October 7.

The initiative receives support from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), addressing issues that are anything but typical, about real-world problems and consumer concerns:

–Minimizing post-harvest waste in onions, which can be as high as 50 percent because of rotting and sprouting.

–Developing non-destructive methods for testing gold jewelry for hallmarking, particularly crucial as India made hallmarking compulsory in 373 districts in 2021.

–Developing AI solutions to verify whether e-commerce sites adhere to legal metrology regulations, such as accurate labeling. This problem is certainly significant, particularly following the rise of online shopping.

–Creating automated systems for testing electrical safety devices.

–Creating real-time technology to identify alterations in weighing and measuring equipment utilized in commerce.

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The hackathon does more than tackle problems; it allows students to collaborate with industry experts, government organizations, and various groups, simultaneously showcasing their technical skills. The hackathon provides students a chance to work alongside industry experts, government entities, and various stakeholders while showcasing their technical skills, the statement emphasized.

Moreover, the government has initiated the Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025, an innovation contest for educational institutions. Managed by the Ministry of Education alongside the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and NITI Aayog, the initiative seeks to promote design thinking and innovation at the community level through school engagement.