Mumbai: The Seva First Innovation Challenge, a multi-state innovation competition organised by the Union Ministry of Skill Development, has received an encouraging response, with more than 65,000 registrations recorded from the Maharashtra zone. The online application window for the competition will remain open until October 30, 2026, giving students, researchers, startups and other interested participants an opportunity to submit innovative solutions to pressing social and public challenges.
The competition aims to encourage practical, technology-driven solutions to issues affecting society. Key focus areas include national security threats, urban population changes and migration patterns, and protecting workers from extreme heat. Participants can also propose solutions in areas such as agriculture, water management, healthcare, education, sanitation, the environment and transportation.
According to the registration data, the Maharashtra zone, comprising Maharashtra, Goa, Chhattisgarh and the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, has recorded more than 65,000 registrations involving 48,680 teams. The competition has also attracted 3,787 women participants and 2,044 participants below the age of 18. Of the total registrations, 12,604 are from the general category. Participants have submitted a total of 7,952 ideas so far.
Cabinet Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha said the application process began on September 21 and the response from the region had been encouraging. He said the challenge offers an important platform for identifying problems faced by society and developing solutions that are technologically sound and practically implementable.
Innovators, individual students, student groups, researchers, professors, startups, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), companies, social organisations, and educational and research institutions are eligible to participate.
The minister also called upon students to identify local problems and develop feasible solutions that could improve everyday life. He urged non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to guide students through the process, from identifying community-level challenges to developing solutions and submitting applications.
NGOs have also been encouraged to prepare clear action plans specifying the schools they intend to reach, the number of students they plan to inform and the target for quality applications. Coordinated efforts by the government, schools and social organisations are expected to help bring grassroots innovations onto a wider platform.
Interested participants can submit their applications online through https://sevainnovationchallenge.in/ by October 30, 2026.
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