By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 8: The spirit of innovation and technological problem-solving came alive as the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2025 – Software Edition Grand Finale was formally inaugurated on Monday at the Multi-Convention Hall, North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong.
The prestigious national event—an initiative of the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC) and AICTE—brought together some of India’s brightest young innovators for an intensive 36-hour coding marathon aimed at building practical solutions for real-world challenges posed by various ministries, industries and government agencies.
The inaugural ceremony commenced with the traditional lighting of the lamp, followed by Saraswati Vandana, marking an auspicious beginning to the nationwide programme.
In his address, Prof. Dinesh Bhatia, Coordinator and Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for SIH 2025 at NEHU, highlighted NEHU’s pride in hosting the grand finale as a nodal centre and emphasised that SIH continues to be a defining platform where young innovators move beyond theoretical learning to develop deployable solutions for pressing national challenges.
On the other hand, Prof. SK Dixit, Registrar, NEHU, reiterated the university’s commitment to nurturing a culture of innovation and technical excellence in the region. He encouraged participants to view the hackathon not merely as a competition but as an invaluable opportunity for collaboration, peer learning and national contribution.
Addressing the audience, Yogesh Brahmankar, Director (Innovation), Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell, spoke about the national vision of SIH as a large-scale movement to crowdsource ideas for governance and societal betterment.
He highlighted the significance of the 2025 edition and urged participants to build ethical, scalable and socially impactful technological solutions.
Adding to the spirit of encouragement, Prof. B. Mishra, Pro-Vice Chancellor, NEHU, applauded the enthusiasm of the young participants. He underscored the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in building effective solutions and motivated the teams to innovate fearlessly throughout the 36-hour challenge.
The event’s keynote address was delivered by the chief guest, Santosh VT, Scientist F & State Information Officer, National Informatics Centre (NIC), MeitY.
In his speech, he spoke about the transformative role of technology in digital governance and public service delivery. He then encouraged the young innovators to design solutions that strengthen the Digital India mission and bridge critical gaps between citizens and governance through secure and efficient digital platforms.
