SWACHH AMRIT MAHOTSAV

Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs launches ‘SwachhToycathon’, a competition to design toys from waste material
In response to Prime Minister’s clarion call for making the toy industry environment friendly, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is taking a step towards achieving circularity in toy sector.
Under the National Action Plan for Toys, MoHUA has launched SwachhToycathon, a competition for new ideas to transform waste into toys.
This competition is being launched under the ‘SwachhAmritMahotsav’, a fortnight of activities to galvanize action around Swachhata from 17th Sept. 2022, SevaDiwas, till 2nd Oct. 2022, SwachhataDiwas.
Secretary, MoHUA, Mr. Manoj Joshi launched the SwachhToycathon by unveiling the online platform on MyGov portal and releasing the toolkit.
The competition seeks to explore solutions for use of waste in creation or manufacturing of toys.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Manoj Joshi urged the creative minds to come up with innovative solutions that meet the growing demand for toys on one hand and address the impacts of solid-waste on the other.
UdayAthvankar, Prof. Manish Jain from IIT Gandhinagar, and MsVidyunGoel from Toy Bank spoke about toy-games design, cognitive science, and their views on the effect of the initiative on toy industry during the occasion.

The SwachhToycathon is a national competition for individuals and groups.

It is based on three broad themes

FUN & LEARN that seeks ideas for design and early prototype of toys from waste at home, workplace and surroundings,
USE & ENJOY that seeks ideas for design and models of games and play in the park/open spaces made from waste and
NEW & OLD that seeks ideas/solutions/working models for circularity in toy industry.
The competition seeks entries of designs of toys and play-zones using waste and recycled material, prototypes of eco-friendly toys and packaging, and other innovative ideas rethinking the toy industry.

Assessment criteria will be based on

(i)Novelty of Idea
(ii)Design
Safety
(iii)Usage of Waste Material
(iv)Scalability and Replicability
(v)Future Waste and climate and social implications.
The top three entries from each category and thematic area will be provided certification at the national level and creative learning workshops will be facilitated at IIT Gandhinagar.
Winning start-ups/individuals will be provided incubation support by IIT Kanpur, as well as linkages with Urban Local Bodies to implement awarded play zone designs and with the toy industry to promote and scale up awarded designs.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT

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