The builder's path
For: Families in flood-hit Malda can't see whether their house was assessed as fully or partly damaged, or whether their aid has been paid.
“Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control.”
Routes to a solution
Each route is a different kind of journey, with real people and organisations to contact at each step, starting with those in West Bengal.
Step 1
Join an incubator or startup mission
They connect you to schemes and officials.
Department of Science and Technology support from idea to startup, through technology business incubators.
The tech industry body; startup programmes and a route to industry partners.
Incubator for social enterprises in health, agriculture and livelihoods.
Lab-to-market platform for science and technology aimed at social problems.
Step 2
Win a seed grant
Prove the idea works with a small, funded prototype.
Seed money through approved incubators for proof of concept, prototypes and trials.
NITI Aayog's mission: Atal Incubation Centres and challenges for social problems.
National AI mission: datasets, compute and calls for AI applications.
Department of Science and Technology support from idea to startup, through technology business incubators.
Step 3
Pilot with a public body
A district, city or department tries it with real people.
The national startup programme: recognition, schemes and a directory of incubators.
NITI Aayog's mission: Atal Incubation Centres and challenges for social problems.
The IT ministry's hub for tech startups, programmes and incubators.
National AI mission: datasets, compute and calls for AI applications.
Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.
District notices, block offices and disaster management contacts for Malda.
Holds the damage assessments and beneficiary lists for the affected blocks.
Sets the rules for house damage assistance across the State.
Starter prompt
Built from this problem's brief. Paste it into Claude or any AI assistant.
Help me design and build a first working prototype for this problem in Malda, West Bengal, India. Problem: Families in flood-hit Malda can't see whether their house was assessed as fully or partly damaged, or whether their aid has been paid. Who it hurts: Households in Manikchak, Ratua-I, English Bazar and nearby blocks of Malda whose homes were damaged by the 2026 floods and river erosion. The moment it hurts: Hearing that compensation has been announced and sent to bank accounts, while their own account shows nothing, or less than a neighbour received. What people do today: Families learn about aid from announcements and relief distribution events, and ask block offices and panchayat members in person whether they are on the list. Why it is still unsolved: Damage is assessed house by house into two categories with very different payments, and the lists and payment status sit with the block administration rather than with the families. What solved looks like: A simple lookup, by phone or a village kiosk, where a family in Malda can see whether their house is listed, whether it was assessed as fully or partly damaged, the amount due and the date it was paid, with a way to ask for a reassessment. Where: Malda, West Bengal, India First, list what you would need to learn from the people affected before building, as interview questions. Then propose the simplest version that would help, the screens or messages it needs, and the data it would use. Keep it cheap to run, accessible, and respectful of people's privacy. Flag anything you are unsure about instead of guessing.
Talk to the people who live it before you build.
“Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light.”
असतो मा सद्गमय। तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।
asato mā sad gamaya, tamaso mā jyotir gamaya
Get a working version in front of people fast.
Using AI is not cheating. Every tool carries the work of the people who made it, and using it well is how knowledge has always moved forward. The thinking, the care for the people who live the problem, and the judgement are still yours.
“The Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.”
Open data that fits this problem.
“When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it: this is knowledge.”
Tools matched to what this problem needs.
“We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants; we see more, and things more distant, not by our own sharp sight but because we are lifted up by their greatness.”
Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.
“Give me a place to stand, and I will move the earth.”
δός μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω
Kit written for this problem from its brief; every link was checked. Links go to each provider's own site. Zetema is not paid for any listing.