New Delhi: The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), under NITI Aayog, has successfully hosted Mega Tinkering Day, the largest school-based innovation event in India, bringing together more than 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) across all 35 states and union territories.
This nationwide virtual event saw 4,73,350 students from 9,467 ATL-equipped schools participate simultaneously in a hands-on project — designing and building a DIY vacuum cleaner from everyday materials available in their labs.
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The activity was guided by a live online instructional session, enabling students from diverse geographies to innovate and collaborate in real time.
Participants included students from the northernmost districts such as Leh, Ladakh, Kargil, and Kashmir; from remote aspirational districts like Virudhunagar; from northeastern states such as Manipur, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh; and from the southern tip of Kanniyakumari to the westernmost regions of Bhuj and Kutch. AIM’s team also joined students in creating their own vacuum cleaner prototypes.
Mission Director of AIM, Deepak Bagla, emphasized that Mega Tinkering Day 2025 is aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat, where youth-led innovation is central to national transformation.
“Over 10,000 ATLs came together in one synchronized hour of creativity, with lakhs of students across India building, learning, and innovating together. This scale of mobilizing school-based innovation is unmatched globally,” he said.
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Mega Tinkering Day: Launchpad for Tinkering Activities
Since its inception, AIM has established over 10,000 ATLs in schools, equipping middle- and high-school students with advanced tools like 3D printers, robotics kits, and IoT devices. These labs provide practical exposure to emerging technologies while fostering problem-solving and entrepreneurial thinking.
The Mega Tinkering Day served not only as a large-scale project-building session but also as the launchpad for the year’s tinkering activities, engaging students, teachers, mentors, higher education institutions, and industry partners.
By nurturing grassroots creativity and collaborative learning, AIM continues to prepare India’s next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs — proving that the future is being built in classrooms across the nation today.
