Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday evening flagged off Tech-Rush run on JLN Road here to mark the beginning of a three-day IT festival.
Gehlot also inspected a smart village exhibition held at Jawahar Kala Kendra and interacted with the participants.
The chief minister told reporters after the programme that Rajasthan is moving ahead in delivering IT-based services. He said that during his earlier term, the government had earmarked 3 per cent of the budget for IT-based services which has delivered exciting results.
"We are moving ahead in delivering IT-based governance. The youth of the state is excited with this atmosphere, start-ups are also flourishing in the state," he said.
Various events will be held at Rajasthan College, Commerce College and Jawahar Kala Kendra during the three-day festival from March 19 to 21. The state government is hosting Rajasthan IT Day on March 19–21 in Jaipur "to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and youth".
A job fair will also be organised on the premises of Commerce College in which more than 400 companies will take part to give employment offers to youth.
The candidates will be selected through on-the-spot interviews. Approximately 20,000 youths are likely to get employment in the fields of IT, BPO, engineering, telecom, civil, banking and finance, consulting, retail and electrical.
A 36-hour offline Hackathon will be organised from March 19 to 21 in Rajasthan College in which 3,000 participants will solve the problems of daily life along with problems of many subjects for the development of the state and the country.
Besides this, an online hackathon will be organised among more than 1 lakh participants during the fest.
In both modes, virtual and augmented reality, blockchain, education and learning, agriculture and food security, artificial intelligence, sustainability, financial inclusion and economic empowerment, smart cities and infrastructure, social impact and other subjects have been included, according to an official spokesperson.
The winner will be given Rs 25 lakh, while the second and third winners will get Rs 20 lakh and Rs 15 lakh, respectively.
Under the Fest, a 'Smart Village' has been developed at Shilpgram in Jawahar Kala Kendra in which all the techniques that fulfil the concept of smart village, including the ideal outline of the rural area, agricultural equipment, drone, sprinkler systems, GIS, watershed, digital transaction, e-mitra, e-mitra plus machine have been displayed.
-With PTI Input
