Hack-A-Cause: Think. Build. Sustain.

HACK-A-CAUSE Vidarbha Level Hackathon under PRERNA 18.0 PARTICIPATION RULES Participation is open only to engineering students. Each team must consist of a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 members. All team members must belong to the same college. A participant cannot be part of more than one team. Each team must designate one Team Leader. Team details submitted once cannot be changed at any stage. Any violation of team rules will result in immediate disqualification. PROBLEM STATEMENT RULES Each team must define one original problem statement. The problem statement must: Address a real social issue related to water, sanitation, hygiene, irrigation, or governance. Be specific to the Vidarbha region. Clearly mention the affected community, area, or system. Generic, global, or non-region-specific problems will be rejected. The problem statement must demonstrate clear social relevance and not merely present a technical challenge. Copied or reused problem statements from previous hackathons, websites, research papers, or AI-generated generic templates will lead to disqualification. Only one problem statement per team is allowed. TECHNOLOGY & DOMAIN RULES Teams are free to choose any technical domain, including but not limited to: Web or Mobile Applications Backend Systems Cloud Computing and APIs Data Analytics and Dashboards Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or Deep Learning System Design or Hybrid Solutions The chosen technology must be relevant and logically aligned with the identified social problem. Use of technical jargon or buzzwords without clear working logic will result in negative marking. Coding or full prototype development is not required in Round 1. PPT SUBMISSION RULES Submission of PPT is mandatory for all participating teams. PPT must strictly follow the prescribed Round 1 template format provided by the organizers. Maximum slides allowed: 6 slides only (including title slide). Any additional slide beyond 6 will lead to penalty or direct rejection. PPT must be submitted in .ppt or .pptx format only. No other formats will be accepted. The Google Drive file access must be set to:“Anyone with the link – Viewer”. Inaccessible, restricted, corrupted, or wrongly formatted files will not be evaluated. Teams must submit the PPT before the mentioned deadline. Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances. PPT CONTENT RULES Slide Structure (Mandatory): Slide 1: Team Introduction Slide 2: Identified Problem Statement Slide 3: Problem Background and Root Cause Slide 4: Proposed Technical Solution Slide 5: Social Impact Slide 6: Feasibility and Scalability Additional Guidelines: The solution must clearly explain how it addresses the identified social issue. Exaggerated claims, fake statistics, or misleading content are strictly prohibited. All content must be original and fact-based. Plagiarism will lead to immediate disqualification. SUBMISSION DEADLINE RULES Submissions must be made only through the official Google Form. Only one submission per team is allowed. Submission deadline:19 February 2026 (strictly before 11:59 PM). Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances. Requests for deadline extension will not be entertained. EVALUATION RULES Evaluation will be carried out by the official judging panel. Submissions will be judged on: Relevance of the social problem Understanding of the local (Vidarbha) context Clarity of problem definition Logic and suitability of the proposed solution Feasibility and scalability Potential social impact Judges’ decisions will be final and binding. Individual scores or detailed feedback will not be disclosed. SHORTLISTING & OFFLINE PARTICIPATION RULES Based on evaluation, only shortlisted teams will qualify for the next stage. Shortlisted teams will be announced on 21 February 2026. Shortlisting qualifies teams for participation in the Offline Round (Round 2) only. Post-Selection Process Shortlisted teams must: Check their registered email for official confirmation. Fill out the Complete Confirmation Form shared via email. Submit all required details and documents. Complete all registration and confirmation steps within the specified timeline (within the given day). Failure to complete the confirmation process within the deadline will result in automatic cancellation of the slot and replacement by the next eligible team. OFFLINE REGISTRATION FEE POLICY For students of RBU, participation in the Offline Hackathon is completely free of cost. For students from colleges other than RBU, a basic team registration fee of ₹250 per team is applicable for the Offline Round. The applicable registration fee must be paid within the confirmation timeline. Failure to complete payment (for non-RBU teams) within the specified deadline will result in cancellation of participation. MANDATORY PHYSICAL PRESENCE All shortlisted and finalized teams must be physically present for the Offline Hackathon Phase. The Offline Hackathon will be held on: 23 February 2026RBU Campus Failure to report physically on the event day will result in automatic disqualification. CODE OF CONDUCT Teams must maintain ethical and professional conduct. Any form of: Plagiarism False claims Misrepresentation of data Attempt to manipulate ruleswill lead to immediate disqualification. NSS, RBU reserves the right to accept or reject any submission without providing justification. All decisions by the organizing committee are final. CERTIFICATION RULES Participation certificates will be issued only to teams with valid submissions. Disqualified teams will not receive certificates. Only teams physically participating in the Offline Round will receive Finalist Certificates. .