Niti Aayog launches vernacular innovation programme in 22 languages for entrepreneurs

In a move aimed at empowering innovators and entrepreneurs across the country by removing the language
barrier, the AtalInnovation Mission (AIM) under the NITI Aayog has developed a vernacular innovation
program (VIP), which will enable innovators and entrepreneurs in India to have access to the innovation
the ecosystem in 22 scheduled languages.

ith an ambition to empower innovators and entrepreneurs across the country, Niti Aayog’s Atal
Innovation Mission (AIM) has come up with a first of its kind Vernacular Innovation Programme
(VIP), which will enable innovators and entrepreneurs in India to have access to the innovation
ecosystem in 22 scheduled languages. According to an official statement, to build the necessary
capacity for the VIP, AIM has identified and will be training a vernacular task force (VTF) in each of the 22
scheduled languages.

Each task force will comprise vernacular language teachers, subject experts, technical writers, and the
leadership of regional Atal Incubation Centers (AICs), it added. Launching the VIP, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman
Rajiv Kumar said India derives its identity from the diverse social and cultural fabric with regional languages
being one of the most prominent cultural assets.

VIP strengthens the design and innovation capabilities of our communities, thereby assisting local
entrepreneurs, artisans and innovators to seamlessly assimilate the knowledge cum technical materials that
AIM will develop. This would assist India in building a strong local network of design experts and innovation
practitioners, he said.

VIP is an initiative to lower the language barrier in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship such that will
systematically decouple creative expressions and languages of transaction said Dr. Chintan Vaishnav Mission
Director AIM, NITI Aayog at the launch event of the programme

AIM Mission Director Chintan Vaishnav said VIP is an initiative to lower the language barrier in the field of
innovation and entrepreneurship that will systematically decouple creative expressions and languages of
transaction. Quoting the 2011 census, he said only 10.4 per cent of Indians speak English, most as their second,
third, or fourth language.

“Why shouldn’t we then create equal opportunity for the vernacular innovators who represent the staggering
90 per cent of our population. ”After all, we know for sure that this excluded population, no matter which
Indian language they speak, is at least as creative as the rest, he stressed.

According to the statement, India may be the first nation in the world to launch such an initiative where an
innovation ecosystem catering to 22 languages plus English is being built. to learning in one’s language and
culture, AIM looks forward to enriching the local, regional, national and global innovation pipelines, the
statement noted