Atal Innovation Mission's Mega Tinkering Day Sets National Records with Huge Student Participation
SDG 4: Quality Education | SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Institutions: NITI Aayog | Ministry of Education
On 12 August 2025, Atal Innovation Mission under NITI Aayog conducted βMega Tinkering Day,β where 4,73,350 students from 9,467 Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) schools across India collaborated to design and build DIY vacuum cleaners through an online instructional session focused on Swachh Bharat. The event has been officially recognized on 15 September 2025 by both the India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records for the largest number of students engaged in a tinkering activity in a single day. The reach was pan-India, including remote and frontier regions like Leh, Ladakh, Kargil, Kashmir, aspirational districts (e.g., Virudhunagar), North-Eastern states such as Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and far-flung places like Bhuj and Kanniyakumari. Atal Innovation Mission has over 10,000 ATLs established countrywide as part of its effort to foster innovation, design thinking, entrepreneurship among young students.
This event underscores the potential of large-scale innovation education interventions to build technical skills, problem-solving mindsets, and inclusive participation across diverse geographies. For policy, it points to the importance of supporting infrastructure (labs, internet connectivity), mentoring, teacher capacity, and the scaling of innovative pedagogies. Recognition by credible record bodies also helps validate how government programs are performing at scale.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
How will AIM ensure that this momentum from Mega Tinkering Day is converted into long-term skill development, inclusion (especially in under-served areas), and linkages to higher levels of innovation, start-ups, or industry engagement?
Follow the full news here: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2166700