Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood has launched the SEVA FIRST - Rashtriya Youth Innovation Challenge 2026 at Delhi Technological University (DTU). The 100-day challenge aims to encourage young people to find solutions to real-world problems.
The initiative has a Rs 2 crore prize pool and will provide participants with mentoring and support to develop their ideas. Students, researchers, startups and participants from educational institutions can take part in the challenge.
What Is SEVA FIRST 2026?
The challenge will encourage participants to identify problems, come up with ideas, build prototypes and test their solutions. The focus areas include agriculture, education, waste management, healthcare, rural development, energy and other areas related to people's daily lives.
DTU will serve as the anchor university for the initiative. The challenge will cover Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and Ladakh.
Students from universities, schools, ITIs and polytechnics, along with participants from industries and startups, can take part.
Government Support For Innovators
The Delhi government will provide support and guidance to promising participants. Selected ideas can also receive mentoring and funding support through the startup ecosystem and government policies.
The challenge is not limited to developing business ideas. It also focuses on creating practical solutions to problems faced by communities.
Rural Innovation Also In Focus
The event also saw the announcement of the Rural Technology and Community Engagement Programme (RTCEP) by DTU.
The programme will focus on engineering, entrepreneurship and social development in rural areas. From the 2027-28 academic session, DTU plans to send engineering students to villages to identify local problems and work on technology-based solutions.
The initiative aims to give young innovators an opportunity to turn their ideas into practical solutions while addressing challenges faced by communities.
