SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has 127 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs), with all the labs reporting that they have an ATL in-charge, the Centre informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh, in a written reply to a question by Rajya Sabha MP Rajinder Gupta, said the government was not aware of any instance of shortage of human resources in ATLs.
The minister said an amount of up to Rs 5,000 can be paid as honorarium to an ATL in-charge, subject to a monthly review. The government has also been conducting regular programmes, workshops and webinars aimed at strengthening the capacity of teachers working with the labs.
According to the state-wise data provided in the reply, Jammu and Kashmir accounts for 127 of the country’s 10,000 ATLs, while the Union Territory of Ladakh has two such labs. The largest number of ATLs has been reported in Maharashtra at 1,033, followed by Tamil Nadu with 975, Uttar Pradesh with 955 and Karnataka with 798.
The data also shows that Andhra Pradesh has 713 ATLs, Gujarat 615, Madhya Pradesh 601, Rajasthan 511, Haryana 435, Telangana 379, Kerala 369, Chhattisgarh 368, Assam 352 and Odisha 331. Punjab has 230 ATLs, West Bengal 242 and Delhi 198.
The Centre said the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has developed ‘Unbox Tinkering’, described as a flagship self-paced teacher training and capacity-building programme. The initiative is designed to train ATL in-charges in areas including hardware, electronics and design thinking, enabling them to mentor students effectively in tinkering and innovation activities.
The government was asked whether it proposed to strengthen teacher capacity through dedicated staffing, mandatory honorarium and institutionalised teacher training. In response, it pointed to the ongoing training programmes, workshops and webinars, along with the Unbox Tinkering initiative, as measures being undertaken to strengthen teacher capacity.
Across the country, the annexure lists 10,000 ATLs, reflecting the government’s network of school-level innovation and tinkering facilities.
