Rocket Learning Hosts Udaan 2026 in New Delhi, Bringing Experts Together to Strengthen Early Childhood Education, Anganwadis and Technology-Driven Learning in India

From Left to Right, Azeez Gupta, Co-founder, Rocket Learning; Dr. Shena Aggarwal, Special Secretary-cum-Director, Dept. of Social Security, Women and Child Development, Govt. of Punjab; Radhika Jha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Govt. of India; Dr. Mrinalini Darswal, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Dept. of Women and Child Development, Govt. of Odisha; Rakhi, Parent from Sonipat

VoM News Desk | October 9, 2026 | 01:27 PM IST | Health Care, Press Release | Follow on Google News

Rocket Learning Hosts Udaan 2026 in New Delhi, Bringing Experts Together to Strengthen Early Childhood Education, Anganwadis and Technology-Driven Learning in India

Government, academia, philanthropic, technology and civil society leaders gathered in Delhi to chart the evidence, investment and delivery needed to give every child a strong start.

New Delhi, October 9, 2026: Rocket Learning, one of India’s largest early learning non-profits, hosted Udaan 2026 in New Delhi today –  India’s largest convening on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE). The event brought together a diverse line-up of speakers and experts from government and policymaking, research and academia, education, civil society and technology. The theme for this edition was ‘From Surviving to Thriving’, and the event saw discussions on enhancing Anganwadis, investing in early childhood development, the role of technology in supporting India’s youngest children and the resulting impact, through speaker sessions and panel discussion.

Amongst the esteemed speakers and guests were distinguished leaders including Dr. M. Srinivas, Member, NITI Aayog; Arti Ahuja, Former Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India; Amanda Devercelli, Former Global Early Childhood Development Head, World Bank Group; Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation; Radhika Jha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India; Dr. Dinesh Arora, Principal Specialist at the Asian Development Bank, and Dr. Abhijeet Singh, Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics and Board Member (Education), J-PAL. They were joined by senior officials from the Women and Child Development departments of Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Delhi, and Andhra Pradesh; leaders from OpenAI, TRYST at IIT Bombay, and SIRA; and Rocket Learning co-founders Azeez Gupta, Namya Mahajan, Siddhant Sachdeva, and Utsav Kheria.

Delivering the keynote discussion on reducing the administrative burden on Anganwadi workers in India, Dr. M. Srinivas, Member, NITI Aayog, said, “Frontline workers like Anganwadi staff should not be burdened solely with administrative tasks and manual record-keeping. Technology and policy changes must simplify their workload so they can focus on their primary mission: directly nurturing mothers and children.”

Speaking on targeted AI interventions for vulnerable families, Arti Ahuja, Former Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Govt. of India, said,“The true power of AI lies in data-driven empathy. Down to the village and hamlet level, AI can help us identify red flags such as family migration or food scarcity, thus enabling targeted, local-level support for the most vulnerable children and families before they fall behind.”

Speaking about the vision behind building Udaan as a cross-sector platform, Rocket Learning’s co-founders, Azeez Gupta, Namya Mahajan, Siddhant Sachdeva, and Utsav Kheria, in a joint statement said, “Every child deserves more than simply surviving the early years – they deserve the opportunity to thrive. We have witnessed the possibilities of Anganwadi educators, pre-school teachers and parents working together as one coherent unit to change children’s trajectories. Udaan 2026 was about moving from surviving to thriving, and the conversations on evidence, investment and technology reinforced that India has both – the ideas and the will – to make this possible at scale. Rocket Learning remains committed to supporting India’s early learning ecosystem, with Udaan 2026 marking an important milestone in this journey.”

Discussions throughout the day addressed how to best reform and enable Anganwadis, better invest in early childhood development, lessons from academia, and the role of technology in supporting the youngest children. The conference also saw the launch of results and lessons from the evaluation of a highly successful, technology-based homegrown early childhood development model, presented by Dr. Abhijeet Singh. The evaluation highlighted the impact and cost-effectiveness of the model, offering valuable lessons for strengthening early childhood development at scale.

The RCT booklet can be accessed from the following link: https://publuu.com/flip-book/725088/2653792

Udaan 2026 reinforced that the case for ECCE is clearly established. The task now is to translate that understanding into action at scale – with rigour, compassion and a commitment to every child. 

VoM News Desk

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