P-SET Hackathon by ShunyaXis: Call for Ideas
Deadline: 20th December 2025 | Free to Participate
What You Get
- Participation Certificate for all valid submissions
- Excellence Certificate for top 5 ideas
- Opportunity to address real problems in your district, state, or India
- Your ideas may be featured in reports and case studies (without personal details)
Who Can Participate?
- Students from any course (engineering, commerce, arts, science, management)
- Individual participants or teams
- Faculty-mentored groups welcome
- No registration fee
How to Participate
Step 1: Choose ONE theme and ONE track from the options below
Step 2: Select your focus area: Your district, your state, or India
Step 3: Answer three questions (details below)
Step 4: Submit the form by 20th December 2025
Choose Your Theme and Track
Theme A: People, Inclusion and Wellbeing
Pick one track:
- Inclusion / Social Good / SDGs
- NEP Implementation / Multidisciplinary Education
- Holistic Wellness / Preventive Healthcare
- Loneliness of Elderly
- Fostering More Women in STEM
- Efficient Human Capital
Theme B: Heritage, Culture and Identity
Pick one track:
- Cultural Identity
- Preserving Heritage
- Documenting Folklore
- Preserving Traditional Knowledge in India
- IKS Promotion
Theme C: Livelihoods, MSMEs and Local Economies
Pick one track:
- Farmers / Agriculture / Resilience
- Small Businesses / MSMEs
- Making Nagpur a Logistics Hub of India
- Responsible Mining
- EV Adoption
- Democratization of AI Resources
Theme D: Planet, Tech and Responsible AI
Pick one track:
- Adopting Renewables
- Enabling Circular Economy
- Safe and Trusted AI
- Overuse of AI
- Screen Overuse (mobile, etc.)
The Three Questions You Must Answer
Question 1: Define the Problem (Max 50 words)
State clearly ONE important problem related to your chosen theme and region.
Tips:
- Be specific with numbers or facts where possible
- Explain who is affected
- Keep it simple and direct
Example: “In Wardha district, 40% of cotton farmers face crop failure due to unpredictable rainfall and lack of soil moisture data, leading to debt and migration to cities.”
Question 2: Your Solution (Max 200 words)
You must answer these four parts:
a) Who is affected and who benefits?
- Name the specific groups of people
b) What is your solution?
- Explain your idea clearly
- How does it work?
c) How can it start in 6-12 months with realistic resources?
- What are the first 2-3 steps?
- What existing resources can you use?
- Who will you partner with?
Tips:
- Be practical and realistic
- Show you understand how to actually implement this
- Mention costs if relevant
- Think about who will support your idea
Example: “Affected: 25,000 cotton farmers in Wardha. Benefits: Farmers, their families, local cotton processors.
Solution: Low-cost soil sensors (Rs 500 each) with SMS alerts in Marathi showing soil moisture and 7-day rain forecasts. Data collected through Jan Seva Kendras.
6-12 Month Plan: Partner with one Farmer Producer Organization covering 1,000 farmers. Install 200 sensors in different soil areas. Train 10 local youth to maintain sensors. Work with agricultural university for data accuracy. Use MGNREGA funds for installation. Start pilot in Kharif 2026 season.”
Question 3: Different Lenses (Max 3 lenses, 1-2 lines each)
Look at your problem from different angles. Choose up to 3 lenses:
Available lenses:
- Policy or Governance
- Technology or AI
- Cultural or Behavioral or IKS
- Business or MSME
- Youth or Gender
- Environmental
- Legal or Regulatory
For each lens, write 1-2 lines about what you notice from that viewpoint.
Tips:
- Each lens should show something different
- Think about how different people would see this problem
- Be specific, not general
Example:
“Cultural/IKS Lens: Traditional seed-sharing festivals in Vidarbha were stopped when farmers started buying hybrid seeds. Bringing back these festivals could help farmers support each other and share knowledge.
“Technology Lens: LoRaWAN networks can cover 15km per gateway in villages, making sensors affordable where mobile data is expensive.
“Gender Lens: Women farmers (30% in Wardha) often don’t get agricultural training. Sending SMS to women’s self-help groups can give them better farming information.”
Using AI: What’s Allowed and What’s Not
You CAN use AI to:
- Research your problem
- Organize your thoughts
- Get feedback on your writing
- Explore different ideas
You CANNOT:
- Copy-paste AI answers directly
- Submit ideas you don’t understand
- Let AI write your entire submission
The Rule: You must be able to explain every part of your submission in your own words.
What Makes a Strong Submission?
Good submissions show:
- Real understanding of the problem
- Practical solution that can actually be implemented
- Clear benefits to specific people
- Realistic plan for 6-12 months
- Different perspectives on the problem
- Your own thinking and voice
Research well:
- Talk to people who face this problem
- Find data from government reports, studies, NGOs
- Check what solutions were tried before and why they worked or failed
Think about:
- What government schemes can you use?
- What resources already exist?
- Who might oppose your solution and why?
- What could go wrong?
Timeline and Certificates
Submission Deadline: 20th December 2025
What you receive:
- All valid submissions: Participation Certificate
- Top 5 submissions: Excellence Certificate
- Selected ideas may be featured in case studies and reports
Why Participate?
- Free to participate – no registration fee
- Certificate for all valid submissions
- Excellence recognition for top 5 ideas
- Work on problems that matter to real people
- Contribute to solutions for your district, state, or country
- Build your portfolio of problem-solving work
- Connect theory with practical implementation
Submit Your Idea
Click below to access the submission form
Deadline: 20th December 2025
Need Help?
- Contact the form owner through the form interface
- Discuss with your faculty mentor if you have one
- Work with your team to develop ideas
- Remember: clarity and practicality matter more than complexity
Final Tips
Keep it simple:
- Write in clear, direct language
- Focus on one problem, one solution
- Be specific with numbers and facts
Make it real:
- Base your solution on actual resources
- Think about who will implement it
- Plan realistic first steps
Show your thinking:
- Use multiple perspectives
- Consider challenges and opposition
- Demonstrate you’ve done research
Be authentic:
- Write in your own voice
- Submit ideas you believe in
- Make sure you can defend every claim
Start working on your submission today. Good luck!