It was launched in 2014 with the aim to connect institutions of higher education, including Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research (IISERs) etc. with local communities to address the development challenges through appropriate technologies.
The objectives of the scheme are broadly two-fold:
Challenges: The coordination between secretariats of institutions and local bodies has been poor due to unawareness amongst institution with regard to further course of action and also, poor accountability mechanism resulting in ineffectiveness.
The government must ensure proper accountability measures and ensure that the institutes must have a proper plan on table before proceeding with the programme to counter follies and guarantee effectiveness.