Lab on Wheels (Mobile Science Lab)

What is Lab on Wheels?

Lab on Wheels is a science-education outreach programme of the Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST), an autonomous body under the state's Department of Information Technology, Good Governance and Science & Technology. The programme, often referred to locally as the Mobile Science Lab or MSL, puts a fully equipped science laboratory inside a van and drives it to schools that do not have a working lab of their own.

According to the Department of IT, Good Governance and Science & Technology, the purpose of Lab on Wheels is to promote and popularise science education among school students and youth studying science subjects across all 13 districts of Uttarakhand. The target group is students of classes 6 to 10, the years in which practical science either takes hold or is lost for good.

The stated objective on the departmental page is to make hands-on science education increasingly accessible in both rural and urban settings. Uttarakhand's geography is the reason the programme exists in this form: in the hill districts, building and staffing a physical laboratory in every school is not realistic, so the laboratory travels instead.

How many Mobile Science Labs are running, and where?

Lab on Wheels was rolled out in two phases.

• Phase 1, July 2024; four Mobile Science Labs began operating in Dehradun, Pauri, Champawat and Almora.
• Phase 2, 8 April 2025: nine more Mobile Science Labs were inaugurated, taking the fleet to 13 vans, one for each district of Uttarakhand.

Agastya International Foundation is the implementing agency that operates the vans and supplies the instructors, working under UCOST. The department states that roughly 20 government schools are selected per district every year, so a district's van works to a planned annual roster rather than turning up on request.

Who is eligible for Lab on Wheels?

Covered by the programme:

• Students of classes 6 to 10 studying in a school in any of Uttarakhand's 13 districts.
• Both boys and girls — UCOST states the programme makes no distinction.
• Students of government and private schools alike, although the annual roster of about 20 schools per district is drawn mainly from government schools.
• Youth studying science subjects, which is how the departmental description extends the programme beyond school classes.

Who cannot apply:

• Individual students and parents cannot apply for Lab on Wheels. There is no personal application form, no scholarship, and no cash payment. Nobody is enrolled as a named beneficiary.
• A school outside Uttarakhand is not eligible, because the fleet is funded by the state and each van is assigned to one Uttarakhand district.
• A school that is not a recognised institution with a UDISE code will not be placed on a district roster.
• Coaching centres and private tuition classes are not eligible, the routes are built around recognised schools.

This is the single point readers most often get wrong. Lab on Wheels is an institutional programme delivered to a school, not a benefit an individual signs up for.

What documents does a school need?

UCOST does not ask a child for Aadhaar, an income certificate or a caste certificate. Any person demanding such papers, or a fee, for a Lab on Wheels visit is not acting for the programme.

How to apply for Lab on Wheels

The application mode is offline, and the request must come from the school.

1. Ask the school administration to initiate the request. A student or parent who wants the Mobile Science Lab to visit should speak to the principal or the science teacher-in-charge. Only the institution can put itself forward.
2. The school writes to UCOST or the district education office, giving the school name, UDISE code, full address, block, district and the number of students in classes 6 to 10.
3. UCOST and the implementing agency draw up the district roster for the academic session, selecting around 20 schools per district and planning the van's route so that remote and rural schools are reached.
4. The school is informed of its visit date and reserves a hall, a classroom or an open covered space where the instruments can be laid out.
5. The Mobile Science Lab arrives on the scheduled day. Instructors set up the working models and run hands-on experiment sessions class by class.

There is no online portal and no payment step at any stage.

How do you check whether your school is on the list?

There is no public beneficiary search for Lab on Wheels, because no individual is registered. To check the status of a school's request:

1. Ask the school principal whether an acknowledgement of the request letter was received.
2. Contact the district education office, which holds the district roster for the session.
3. Contact UCOST at Vigyan Dham, Vigyan Sadan Block, Dehradun 248007, on 0135-2976266, quoting the school name and district.

Why does a school not get a visit?

The commonest reasons follow directly from how the programme is designed:

• The annual district quota of roughly 20 schools is already full. The request is not rejected so much as carried to the next session: schools should re-apply at the start of the academic year rather than mid-session.
• The request never reached UCOST. Many schools raise the matter verbally at a block meeting and assume it was recorded. A written letter with the UDISE code is what enters the roster.
• Road access. A van carrying scientific instruments needs a motorable approach and a level place to park. Schools on footpath-only approaches are often clustered with a neighbouring accessible school instead.
• No indoor space. The instruments cannot be set up in rain or wind, so a school with no usable hall or classroom may be deferred.
• The institution is not a recognised school, for example a coaching centre.

What does a student actually gain?

UCOST lists the expected outcomes plainly: developing curiosity, creativity and confidence; strengthening logical thinking and the habit of asking questions; understanding complex scientific concepts through physical working models; building motor skills and peer-to-peer learning; and cultivating problem-solving and an entrepreneurial mindset. The programme also gives students a platform to show their own innovations.

There is no certificate of monetary value and no marks advantage in any board examination. Lab on Wheels is a teaching intervention, not an award scheme.

Help and grievance redressal

• UCOST, Vigyan Dham, Vigyan Sadan Block, Dehradun 248007, Uttarakhand
• Phone: 0135-2976266
• Email: ucost [at] ucost [dot] in
• Departmental scheme page: it.uk.gov.in, under services

Complaints about a scheduled visit that did not happen, or about anyone demanding money in the programme's name, should go to UCOST directly with the school name, district and the date concerned. Lab on Wheels is free, and no fee of any kind is payable by a school, a student or a parent.