As a part of the annual ritual of honouring young bravehearts for their acts of exemplary courage and valour, 25 children will be conferred with the National Bravery Award this Republic Day. The children will receive their awards from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 24 and will also participate in the Republic Day parade.
Here are the seven special awardees
Some of the other bravehearts
- 13-year-old Shivansh Singh from Uttarakhand will be posthumously awarded. He sacrificed his life to save a friend from drowning in the Saryu river
- Angelica Tynsong, 13, of Meghalaya saved her 7-month-old brother when her house was gutted in a fire.
- Odisha boy Abinash Mishra, 12, fearlessly jumped into the Kushabhadra river to save a friend.
- 14-year-old Maurice Yengkhom from Manipur saved a friend from electrocution.
- Dishant Mehndiratta, 13, overpowered an intruder in his Haryana home who had a knife to his mother’s throat.
- After his neighbour’s house caught fire because of a cylinder blast, 13-year-old Nithin Philip Mathew of Kerala braved the flames to save the family.
- 11-year-old Vaibhav Ghangre of Maharashtra rescued a friend who had got swept away in a flash flood.
- Mohit Mahendra Dalvi, 14, saved his 10-year-old neighbour from drowning in Banganga lake in Maharashtra.
- After a miscreant snatched her father’s phone, 10-year-old Joena Chakrabortty from Chattisgarh ran after him and caught hold of his leg, despite the fact that he had a knife.
- 15-year-old Sai Krishna Akhil Kilambi of Telangana saved his mother from electrocution.
- Chongtham Kuber Meitei, 12, of Manipur saved a young girl from drowning.
- The other recipients of the bravery awards include Kashish Dhanani (Gujarat), Sarwanand Saha (Chhatisgarh), Beedhovan, Abhijit KV, Anandu Dillep, and Muhammad Shamnad (all from Kerala), Nilesh Revaram Bhil (Maharashtra), and Bhimsen from Uttar Pradesh.
Here is all you need to know about one of India’s most prestigious bravery awards:
- The awards were started in 1957 at the suggestion of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. While the former PM was watching a performance at Delhi’s Ramlila ground, a short circuit caused a fire to break out. Harish Chandra Mehra, 14, took out his knife and ripped open the burning tent, saving the lives of hundreds of trapped people. This inspired Nehru to honour India’s brave children.
- The awardees receive a medal, certificate and cash. The Bharat Award winner gets Rs 50,000, the Geeta Chopra Award winner Rs 40,000, Sanjay Chopra Award Rs 29,000 and the three Bapu Gaidhani awardees get Rs 24,000 each. All other bravery award winners get Rs 20,000 each.
- The awardees also get financial assistance until they complete their schooling. They also get assistance under the Indira Gandhi Scholarship Scheme if they pursue professional courses like engineering and medicine.
- Since its inception in 1957, 920 children (656 boys and 264 girls) have been conferred with this award till date.
(With inputs from PTI)
(All images sourced from PTI)