Students who can turn a cyber safety warning into a short film now have a national stage for it. CBSE has asked all affiliated schools to push their students towards the National Cyber Awareness Grand Challenge 2026, a video-making contest run under the government’s Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) project. The idea is simple. Make a short, acted-out video that teaches people how to stay safe online, and do it in your own language.
The contest comes from ISEA, a project of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). It’s open across all 22 officially recognised Indian languages, so a student can film in Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Hindi or any other scheduled language. There’s a twist built in: the video must also show off local culture and heritage, not just the safety message.
Participants pick one target audience and build their story around it. Three groups are on offer, each with its own set of scam themes.
| Target group | Sample topics |
|---|---|
| Senior citizens / elderly | Phishing scams, fake utility bills, KYC fraud, online banking and investment fraud, digital arrest scams, risks of sharing OTPs and UPI PINs |
| Women | Online harassment, cyberstalking, identity theft, image-based abuse, deepfake blackmail, romance scams, voice cloning |
| Children / students | Cyberbullying, online gaming scams, exposure to unsafe content, social media addiction, online predators and grooming, fake contests and in-app scams |
The contest runs in stages. First comes an idea or concept stage, where you submit a video concept or storyboard in English or Hindi. A jury screens these and shortlists the best. Those who make the cut then shoot and submit their final video.
Here’s the timeline to note down:
| Step | Last date |
|---|---|
| Idea submission (concept stage) | 15th July 2026 |
| Shortlisted ideas announced | 5th August 2026 |
| Final video submission | 5th September 2026 |
| Results announced | 29th September 2026 |
The money is real. National first prize is Rs 2,00,000, second is Rs 1,50,000 and third is Rs 1,00,000. On top of that, there’s a consolation prize of Rs 10,000 for each of the 22 languages, which adds up to Rs 2,20,000. Everyone who takes part gets a participation certificate.
All entries go up at https://www.staysafeonline.in/cgc, which also carries the full guidelines and registration details. English and Hindi brochures have been shared with schools. For any doubts, the organisers can be reached at isea@cdac.in or on WhatsApp at 73820 06236.