Creative writing contest hosted by Government of Maharashtra and Wattpad India inspires students across the region

 

Mumbai: The Government of Maharashtra and Wattpad India, a leading social storytelling platform, announced today the winners of the creative writing contest after a three week call for submissions for stories in English, Hindi or Marathi.

 

The contest, which aimed to engage students virtually as schools remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, drew more than 1500 entriesby aspiring student authors across the state in English, Hindi and Marathi. The entries came from both metros and non-metros such as Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Diveagar, Dhamodi and more, showcasing the power and ingenuity of young minds across the region.

 

Students were invited to write stories about one of the following topics:

● “Story of COVID-19 Heroes that you have seen around you”

● “What do you think of the year 2020 and how can 2021 be better?”

● “What is your vision of India for the year 2030?”

Commenting on the success of the contest, Mr. Rahul Dwivedi, State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha and Former Director of State Council of Educational Research and Training, (SCERT) Maharashtra, Pune from Government of Maharashtra said, “The response to the creative writing contest has been phenomenal. Students from every nook and corner of Maharashtra welcomed the contest as a great outlet for them to share their point of view. The entries were a myriad of diversity and originality. This showed how students in Maharashtra are bright young minds who have adapted to the virtual learning environment and took on the contest to engage with other school going students virtually by sharing their voice and their ideas.”

Devashish Sharma, Head of Wattpad India, said, “Wattpad’s first partnership with the Government of Maharashtra was a resounding success. As evidenced by our community of more than 90 million people around the world, it is in times of great adversity that storytelling is more important than ever. We thank all the participants and look forward to working with the Government of Maharashtra in the future.”