"Bharat Tech 2.0 – A Hackathon That Wasn’t One"
Hackathons are meant to be about innovation, collaboration, and learning—but Bharat Tech 2.0 felt like anything but that. Having participated in several hackathons before, I was excited to attend this one at Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering & Technology, Banur (SVIET). Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of the most disorganized events I’ve been a part of.
From the start, there were big promises but zero execution. The organizers hyped up the event, talking about 25 titles, great opportunities, and a well-planned structure. But the reality? Far from it.
To be clear—I have no complaints about the judges or mentors. They did their job well. But who takes responsibility for this level of mismanagement?
The winning team? From the organizing institute itself—conveniently avoiding the need to distribute real prizes. Were they truly deserving? Their prototype wasn’t even working compared to others that clearly outperformed them.
Beyond the results, the entire event was a mess:
đź”´ Paid for accommodation and food, but got none of the comfort.
đź”´ Hygiene? Non-existent. The washrooms were a nightmare.
🔴 Timelines were a joke—the first round was supposed to happen between 4-6 PM on Feb 8 but actually took place at 1:30 AM with no structure.
đź”´ Mentoring rounds? Pure chaos. Teams were randomly woken up and shuffled around.
Reality check: Every hackathon project requires some groundwork. Given the lack of facilities, even getting a basic working model up in 30 hours was a challenge.
To make things worse, teams with zero social impact ended up winning, and when questioned, the organizers conveniently labeled it an "idea-thon" instead of a hackathon. If that’s the case, why call it a hackathon in the first place?
This was easily my worst hackathon experience. If you’re going to host an event in the name of innovation, at least ensure fairness, proper management, and basic respect for participants.
Because right now, the only thing Bharat Tech 2.0 delivered was disappointment.
Was this worth 30+ sleepless hours? Absolutely not.