MeitY Launches e-Toycathon at Convocation of First Batch of Engineers in Electronic Toys
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), C-DAC, Indian Toy Industries and LEGO Group celebrated the Convocation Ceremony of the 1st batch of engineering graduates who have spent one year training under the project ‘Development of Electronics and IT-based Control and Automation Solutions for Consumer Electronic Goods (Toy Industry)’. The project is a tailored made initiative of the R&D group of MeitY to foster the growth of the Indian electronic toys industry by developing prototypes and equipping young engineers, including from under-represented communities with the skills needed to design such toys.
Under this MeitY initiative, young engineers were selected from across India from SC/ST and NER background and engaged in R&D activities for a year, with hands-on experience in designing and developing electronic toys for the first six months, working and learning in the toy labs at C-DAC-Noida followed by a six-month training at industry to create toy prototypes based on industry needs. The participants were provided with a monthly stipend of Rs. 25,000 for one year.
To provide a global exposure to the interns, the LEGO Group has joined as a knowledge partner. From October 2023 till March 2024, Sam Coates, Head of Innovation (Interactive) at the LEGO Group’s Creative Play Lab (CPL), delivered webinars to the young engineers, providing insights on CPL’s experimentation mindset, guidance on toy development and standards, and feedback on toy prototypes developed by the engineering students.
During the Event, Secretary, MeitY announced the Electronic Toy Hackathon (e-Toycathon). And Shri Sanjay Mehndiratta, MD, Toys Zone offered appointment letters to 10 Trained Students.
Commenting on the occasion, Secretary, MeitY said, “India has a growing market of electronic toys and to build the Indian toy industry ecosystem, Electronics and IT can play a crucial role. I am very happy that the building blocks for it are getting created and the next generation of engineers are working towards it. This program can be formalized in a bigger way to cater more students and more impact in overall promotion of the Toy industries. We could setup a CoE with the help of STPI/MSH and other institutes with electronic toys in focus. It will help in creating entrepreneurship/startups. I wish the graduating students all the very best for their future.”
This convocation ceremony, held on November 23, 2024 at MeitY was graced by Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, Shri Bhuvnesh Kumar, Additional Secretary, MeitY, Ms. Sunita Verma, Group Coordinator, R&D in E & IT, Shri Vivek Khaneja, ED, CDAC-Noida, Shri Manu Gupta, Chairman, Toys Association of India, Shri Sanjay Mehndiratta, MD, Toys Zone, Shri Vipin Nijhawan, MD, S.R. & Sons and Ms. Bhavana Mandon, Country Manager, LEGO Group in India.
