Govt to launch Swachh Toycathon today

New Delhi, Sep 26: Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs will launch Swachh Toycathon on Monday, a unique competition to make toys from waste. The competition will be open to individuals and groups to bring forth innovation in toy designs using dry waste. It will focus on efficient designs that can be replicated at a larger scale, toys that comply with minimum safety standards, as well as aesthetics of the toys. The competition will be hosted on MyGov's innovate India portal.

Center for Creative Learning, IIT Gandhinagar is the knowledge partner for the initiative.

The demand for toys in the country is increasing due to strong economic growth, rising disposable incomes, and several innovations for the junior population.

National Action Plan for Toys (NAPT) 2020 was introduced to promote the Indian toy industry including traditional handicrafts and handmade toys with the objective of establishing India as a global Toy hub.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade along with 14 Ministries of Central Government is currently implementing various aspects of the National Action Plan for Toys.

Besides being the second largest populated country in the world, India also has a growing young population with half of the total population under 25 years of age.

With ever-changing consumption patterns and rapid rise of e-commerce, the per capita waste generation has steadily increased over the last decade, making waste management in cities a challenge for Urban Local Bodies. The second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM 2.0) was launched on 1st October 2021 by the Prime Minister with a vision of 'Garbage Free' cities by 2026.

The growing demand for toys on one hand and impacts of solid waste on the other, Swachh Toycathon is a convergence between the NAPT and SBM 2.0 that seeks to explore solutions for use of waste in creation or manufacturing of toys.