National Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge Awards

What are the National Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge Awards?

The National Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge Awards are a biennial national recognition instituted by the National Innovation Foundation - India (NIF), an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the Ministry of Science and Technology. The awards honour ordinary people who have solved real problems through their own creativity, without formal laboratories, funding or technical training.

According to the National Innovation Foundation, the awards reward unaided technological innovations and traditional knowledge developed at the grassroots in fields such as agriculture, health, energy, household utility, transportation and livestock. The awards are presented once every two years at a national function; the 11th edition was presented by the President of India in 2023, and NIF is currently running its 15th biennial campaign.

Key objectives

• Recognise and reward grassroots innovators and traditional knowledge holders.
• Bring hidden rural and community innovations into the formal innovation system.
• Protect innovators' rights through documentation and IPR support.
• Encourage low-cost, sustainable, green technologies that reduce drudgery.

How much prize money do the awards carry?

According to NIF and the President of India's 2023 press release, the cash awards are structured in tiers:

Each award also carries a trophy and a certificate. The National First, Second and Third awards are given in different categories, and several consolation prizes are given depending on the incremental inventiveness and the potential social and environmental impact of the entry. The Lifetime Achievement Award is reserved for an outstanding innovator with demonstrated lifelong creativity, and is not given in every cycle.

Beyond the cash, NIF's real value for many innovators is the incubation support; technical validation, product refinement, patent filing and help reaching markets.

Who is eligible for the National Grassroots Innovation Awards?

You can enter if:

• You are an Indian citizen above 14 years of age.
• Your innovation or traditional knowledge is unaided; developed on your own without technical support from an external agency.
• You are a farmer, artisan, mechanic, homemaker, school student up to Class 12, an ITI or polytechnic diploma holder, a self-taught innovator, or a retired person without science or technology education.

NIF gives special encouragement to women, differently-abled innovators and applicants from disadvantaged or remote regions.

You cannot apply if:

• You hold or are pursuing a degree in a technical field such as engineering, agriculture, veterinary science, medical sciences, pharmacy, biotechnology or biochemistry, or a Master's degree in Science.
• You are a research and development professional working at a scientific or technical institution.

This exclusion is deliberate. The awards are designed to surface innovation from people outside the formal science and technology system. If you are employed elsewhere but the innovation is genuinely your own, you must attach a No Objection Certificate from your employer stating that the work is your original creation.

What documents and information are required?

How to apply for the National Grassroots Innovation Awards

1. Visit the National Innovation Foundation website at nif.org.in and open the current Biennial Campaign page.
2. Register and log in to create your entry, or download and fill the printed campaign form.
3. Describe your innovation or traditional knowledge in detail — what it does, how you built it and how it helps, and upload photographs or a short video if you have them.
4. Attach proof of your citizenship and age, and a No Objection Certificate if you are employed elsewhere.
5. Submit the entry online, or post the completed form to National Innovation Foundation-India, Grambharti, Amrapur, Gandhinagar-Mahudi Road, Gandhinagar, Gujarat-382650, or email it to campaign@nifindia.org before the campaign deadline.

You do not need to apply "for money" as a personal benefit, this is a competition and recognition scheme. Entries are scouted, documented and evaluated by NIF, and only shortlisted innovations receive an award. There is no fee at any stage.

How are entries judged?

NIF scouts and documents entries received during the biennial campaign, then puts them through validation. A jury evaluates entries on originality, inventiveness, and potential social and environmental impact. Winners are announced at the national award function, typically presented by the President of India. Because judging depends on the quality and originality of each entry, not every applicant receives an award: many entries are instead documented and supported through NIF's incubation channel even without a prize.

Help and contact

• National Innovation Foundation-India, Grambharti, Amrapur, Gandhinagar-Mahudi Road, Gandhinagar, Gujarat-382650
• Email: campaign@nifindia.org
• Website: nif.org.in

Because NIF is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology, you can also reach its innovation scouting network (the Honey Bee Network) through the same portal. NIF never charges innovators a fee, and applicants should be cautious of any private agency that offers to "register" them for a payment.