The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has launched the pilot phase of the Gems of India Challenge, a national initiative designed to identify, nurture and promote grassroots digital creators across the country.
Built on MyWAVES, the citizen creator platform within WAVES OTT, the challenge invites creators to produce short videos highlighting the culture, heritage, tourism, traditions, history and distinctive stories of their districts.
The pilot phase is currently open for entries from 1 to 31 August 2026. Participants must submit original videos between one and three minutes long through the MyWAVES section of the WAVES OTT platform.
What creators can win
The initiative has a three-tier awards structure:
District-level winners: Up to 20 creators in each district can receive ₹50,000 each.
State or UT-level winners: One exceptional creator from each district can be selected for a ₹2 lakh award.
National-level winners: During the wider national rollout, selected state entries will be eligible for national awards of ₹5 lakh each.
District and state jury committees will evaluate entries. These panels are expected to include people from culture, heritage, tourism, media and academia.
Where the pilot is taking place
The first phase is being conducted across six states and Union Territories:
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Arunachal Pradesh
Chandigarh
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
Goa
Ladakh
The Ministry has said the programme will expand to all states and Union Territories based on learnings from this pilot.
A government-led push for local storytelling
The Gems of India Challenge focuses on a part of the creator economy that often receives less attention than entertainment, beauty, fashion or brand-led content: local storytelling.
Creators are being encouraged to document the identity of their own districts, whether through lesser-known traditions, local landmarks, food, art, historical stories, tourism experiences or community achievements. This could give emerging creators a formal platform to build a body of work around their regional knowledge and perspective.
The initiative is being undertaken with support from Prasar Bharati, My Bharat, state and district administrations, along with cultural and educational institutions. YouTube and Meta are also supporting the programme by helping extend its reach to their creator communities.
For India’s growing creator ecosystem, the programme signals a broader effort to recognise creators not only as entertainers or marketing partners, but also as digital storytellers who can document and represent local culture at scale.
As Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Chanchal Kumar, said at the launch, every district has a story waiting to be told. The challenge aims to give creators the platform, recognition and incentive to tell those stories.
Source: Press Information Bureau