1. Introduction and Objective

The Ministry of External Affairs (Economic Diplomacy Division) along with NITI Aayog (Atal Innovation Mission) invites applications from individuals and organizations for participating in the National Contest on Social Innovation. The Contest shall identify and showcase 25 best socially relevant and scalable Innovations at the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2017. The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community to the development of India. The next edition of the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas will be organized in Bangalore from Jan 7-9, 2017.  

The objective of the National Contest on Social Innovation is to identify a pool of social impact innovators that have developed or are developing commercially viable solutions to the socio-economic problems of India. This would facilitate the creation of a community of innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, grant bodies, and mentors support the selected startups for commercialisation and scale up.

The key focus sectors for the National Contest on Social Innovation include –

• Cleantech
• Education
• Health
• Housing
• Public Transport
• Skill development and Livelihood
• Waste management
• Water and Sanitation
• Women empowerment

2. Eligibility criteria

a. Who can apply?

• Social innovators/ entrepreneurs (Individuals)
• Social enterprises (Only startups that comply with the definition of a start-up as defined in the Start-up Action Plan)
• For profit
• Not-for-profit

b. What can be considered an Innovation?

• An innovative product / technology based on tangible scientific discoveries of engineering innovations (deep technology)
• A novel application of an existing technology
• A scalable intervention to deliver technology/ product/ services and create a mass impact at the grassroot level

c. What should be the stage of the innovation?

• Innovations should at least have a working prototype, preferably a pilot test done with the potential set of beneficiaries
• Innovations should be commercially viable and should have scalable business models

3. Application process

Duly completed and fully filled forms must be submitted using the online application system before 11:30 pm IST on 07th December 2016. The participant will be taken to a page featuring the application form with various fields.

1. Participant will have to fill out the application form and click 'Submit'.
2. On successful submission, participant will receive a confirmation email.
3. Should organizers require additional information, they will contact the registered participant via email. Participant is recommended to duly provide any additional information as instructed.

4. Selection criteria

The submitted applications shall be evaluated based on the following criteria-

1. The need/challenge/problem statement that is solved by the innovation – How relevant is it for India?
2. Is there any Innovation involved and what is the degree of the innovation?
3. Is the innovation and its business model affordable sustainable and scalable?
4. Current stage of development/ deployment
5. Plan for commercialization with timeline and budget
6. What is the scale of impact (social or economic) that it is creating
7. How is the innovation in concordance with the strategic goals of the Indian Govt.?

5. Selection process

• An esteemed panel of judges under the guidance of the Minister of External Affairs will select the top 25 social innovators of India.
• The selected 25 innovators will be informed of their selection via email/fax/telephone by around Dec 16.
• The selected 25 innovators will be invited to showcase their innovations through an exhibition during the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas event to be held in Bangalore from Jan 7-9, 2017. More details on the exhibition lay out and stall size will be shared closer to the event. The participants will be expected to travel to Bangalore a day in advance to set up the stall at the exhibition.
• Two members from each group would be invited to travel to Bangalore and be present at the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2017 and exhibit their innovation.
• The Ministry of External Affairs will reimburse for travel and accommodation for the member who travel to Bangalore for participating in the Exhibition during PBD.
• The top 25 innovators will exhibit their innovations in the stall.
• A certificate of appreciation will be provided to all the top 25 innovators.
• The top 25 innovators will be expected to provide high resolution photographs and a short video clip on their innovation to the Ministry of External Affairs. The photographs/ video clip would be sole propriety of MEA with rights of further usage.

6. Intellectual Property

The organizers do not claim ownership over Intellectual Property Right (IPR) for the Innovation that is sent to the organizers by submitting an application. The IPR shall remain with the applicant at all times. However, we request you to not include any information that you may not want to share publicly.

7. Correspondence

Any correspondence from to participant will be by email provided by the participant at time of filling the application form. Organizers are not liable in case of email delivery failures.
For any queries, please send mail at : md-aim[at]gov[dot]in