Celebrating the occasion of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the government of India has highlighted and brought into focus the much-needed development aspect of the country – Women Entrepreneurship.
As we all know that from winning medals in Olympics to building tech-based Innovative solutions, women today are leading by example in all walks of life. Keeping this in mind, MyGov under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and UN Women have joined hands to launch the Amrit Mahotsav Shri Shakti Innovation Challenge 2021.
Initial Support for Women Entrepreneurs
With this initiative. the Government will be supporting the start-ups and entrepreneurs in the most difficult phase, the initial risk phase.
The Minister of Electronics and IT, Communications and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw informed that Out of 100, even if 20 entrepreneurs grow to the next level, that will be a great journey for the country. And we are looking at a million more flowers to bloom, a million more entrepreneurs to create more jobs, to make their mark”
The UN Women Representative in India also mentioned that “the Shri Shakti Challenge provides a much-needed platform to foster women-led solutions that can improve women’s safety, build economic gains and benefit thousands of other women as we build back from COVID-19.”
Shri Shakti Innovation Challenge 2021
The basic aim of this challenge is to further Nari Sashaktikaran, which is to empower women to help them achieve their full potential. The primary focus area of this challenge is to encourage technology solutions developed by women entrepreneurs that facilitate women’s safety and empowerment.
The Amrit Mahotsav Shri Shakti Innovation Challenge is a platform where women tech entrepreneurs and start-ups can showcase their products designed by women, for women.
Hosted by the MyGov platform, Shri Shakti Challenge 2021 will accept entries till September 17, 2021.
After the registration and listing process, 10 nominees will be shortlisted and supported through a mentorship programme. Simultaneously, each nominee will be awarded a grant of INR 1,00,000 to develop the Proof of Concept of their ideas.
Following a rigorous screening process, five winners will be selected by a Jury in November 2021. The winners hence will be awarded INR 5,00,000 each to develop, market and implement their solutions.
Amrit Mahotsav Shri Shakti Challenge 2021 Process
This challenge will take place in 3 phases starting with a registration on MyGov Portal.
Following this, a mail will be sent to the registered Email ID of participants acknowledging their MyGov Registration. After registering on MyGov Portal, users can participate in the challenge.
Post – Registration, the individual/company representation could click on the participate button and upload the necessary details and information on the portal. In the final stage, the top 10 teams will compete and 3 entries will be selected for a reward of INR 5,00,000 each by UN Women, for final development and rollout.
All the winners will be provided with a certificate of appreciation from MyGov. Further, more information regarding the evaluation parameters, evaluation process, timeline, eligibility criteria and guidelines could be obtained from Mygov’s website.
Government’s Commitment towards Women Empowerment
The Government of India is committed to empowering women and has taken various transformative steps in this direction. Other than the Shri Shakti Challenge, many schemes have been implemented that continue to support women in multiple domains.
Some of these include the MUDRA scheme for giving interest-free loans to the poor, the Ujjwala scheme whereby women were given free gas connections, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao to educate the girl child, as well as the abolition of triple talaq to provide dignity to women.
With such growing opportunities, an increasing number of women have been breaking stereotypes and embracing entrepreneurial careers marking the growth of developing India.
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