Twenty Two children among Ten girls and 12 boys have been selected for the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) National Bravery Awards, 2019.
Children come from 12 different states of India.
The coveted Bharat Award has been conferred on 15-year-old Master Adithya K, who is from Keral. Adithya saved more than 40 lives when a bus they were travelling in bus caught fire in Nepal in May 2019. Just 50 killomentres short of reaching Indian border, the bus caught fire at Daunnein.
While the bus driver fled, Adithya saved 40 passengers by using hammer to kick the back window, moments before the diesel tank exploded into a fireball and the whole bus burnt into ashes.
At the award ceremony, a smiling Adhithya says he “wants to join the Indian Air Force”.
Another Kerala resident and award recipient was as brave but not as lucky. The only recipient to recieve the award posthumously is Muhhamed Muhsin EC, who has honoured with the Abhimanyu award.
From Kozhikode, Muhhamed Muhsin risked his life to save three of his friends from drowning in deep sea. The friends survived but Muhsin, their saviour, died. Mushin’s family held back tears and emotions. An emotional father said, “My child died a brave death. The award is for all the brave children.”
The two awardees from J&K Sartaj Mohidin Mughal and Mudasir Ashraf were found with great difficulty. The security forces knocked on their doors to inform them that both had won the bravery award. Mughal saved his family during live shelling from Pakistan. Mughal lives at the Line of Control (LoC) while Mudasir helped IAF and rescue personnel during the IAF chopper crash in Budgam in February 2019.
A 13-year-old Alaika saved her family after their car met with an accident. The proud family stood as she was selected for the award.
Her family said, “She is our only child. She is our son and our daughter. She has proved that girls are no less than a son.”
The ICCW Markandeya Award was conferred on 10-year-old Rakhi from Uttarakhand, who saved her 4-year-old brother from the claws of a leopard. She sustained severe injuries in the incident.
Gita Siddahartha, Chairperson of ICCW said, “The children were selected from 150 entries they scanned through diligently.”
The ICCW Dhruva Award has been given to Purnima Giri (16) and Sabita Giri (15) from Odisha who saved 12 persons from drowning a river when a boat sank into the water full with wild crocodiles.
Ten-year-old Srimati Badra has been given the ICCW Prahalada Award for helping her friend who lost her right leg in a train accident. Due to her timely and courageous action, her friend’s life couid be saved.
The other recipients are Kamal Krishna Das (Assam), Kanti Paikra and Bharneshwari Nirmalkar (both from Chhattisgarh), Aarti Kiran Shet and Venkatesh (both from Karnataka), Zen Sadavarte and Akash Machindra Khillare (both from Maharashtra), Lourembam Yaikhomba Mangang (Manipur), Everbloom K Nongrum (Meghalaya), Lalliansanga, Carolyn Malsawmtluangi and Vanlalhriatrenga (all from Mizoram).