PANAJI
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting today launched the Pilot Phase of the 'Gems of India' Challenge, a structured national initiative to identify, nurture and promote grassroots digital creators from across the country.
The initiative builds upon MyWAVES, the citizen creator platform under WAVES OTT, launched by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Information & Broadcasting to enable citizens to create, upload and share original content while strengthening India's digital creator ecosystem. Envisioned as a platform to encourage user-generated content and showcase India's rich cultural diversity, MyWAVES now provides the foundation for the Gems of India Challenge, which invites creators to tell the unique stories of their districts through authentic digital storytelling.
To join the challenge, creators can submit videos of 1 to 3 minutes in duration via the MyWAVES section on the WAVES OTT platform. The submission window for the Pilot Phase will open on August 1, 2026, and will remain open until August 31, 2026.
The Pilot Phase is being launched across Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Goa, and Ladakh.
District Level: Up to 20 awards of Rs 50,000 each per district.
State Level: One exceptional creator from each district will be selected for a State-level Award of Rs 2 lakh.
National Level: During the subsequent national rollout, selected State entries for National Awards of Rs5 lakh each.
To ensure fair evaluation, the District and State Jury Committees will be constituted by the respective administration. These panels will comprise eminent personalities from the fields of culture, heritage, tourism, media, and academia.
