PM Modi interacts with recipients of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar

New Delhi [India]: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with recipients of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2024 at his residence, 7 Lok Kalyan Marg in the national capital on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister presented souvenirs to each awardee and then engaged in a freewheeling interaction with them. The children shared details of their achievements due to which they have been selected for the award.

Various subjects like music, culture, solar power, sports like badminton, chess, among others were discussed.

The children also asked the Prime Minister several questions as well, while answering one of which, he spoke about his interest in music of all kinds, and how it helps him in meditation.

On being asked about the launch of Pradhanmantri Suryodaya Yojana yesterday, Prime Minister recalled the steps taken by him to harness solar energy while he was Chief Minister of Gujarat, and also spoke about how people will benefit from this scheme.
The PM also discussed with the children about the significance of the day and told them about Parakram Diwas and how the government is honouring the legacy of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Ahead of this, President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar to 19 exceptional children in an award ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan on January 22.

The award was given to nine boys and 10 girls in six categories – namely art and culture, bravery, innovation, science and technology, social service and sports.

During the PM’s interaction with the awardees, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani also remained present and congratulated them for their exemplary performances in their respective categories.

Anushka Pathak, an 8-year-old from UP’s Kushinagar, got the award from Katha Vachan. Anushka, at the tender age of 4, embarked on the profound journey of Katha Vachan alongside her father, a spiritual guru and adhyatmik path pradarsak. Her dedication and talent blossomed, leading her to grace over 22 different states and cities with her mesmerising Katha Vachan performances.

Another recipient, Saiyam Mazumdar, a 15-year-old from Assam working as a wildlife conservationist. Saiyam has started his journey when he was 10. He started off by saving and taking care of stray animals, exhibiting incredible compassion.

At the age of 12, he turned his attention to saving snakes and became India’s youngest snake rescuer. He bravely saved snakes and informed others about their ecological significance.

Linthoi Chanambam, a 17-year-old international-level judo player from Manipur conferred with the award for being first Indian to clinch a judo championship in any age group, secured gold in the 57 kg category at the 2022 World Judo Cadets championship in Sarajevo.

Aryan singh (17) from Kota, Rajasthan, got the prestigious award in the field of science and technology. Aryan has successfully created an Agrobot, a remarkable smart multipurpose AI-powered robot, designed to simplify the lives of farmers. The Agrobot is built on the concept of Internet + Energy less, ensuring optimal efficiency and resource management.

Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) – is given to children with exceptional abilities and outstanding achievements. The awards are given to children in the age group of 5-18 years for their excellence in seven categories for Bravery, Art & Culture, Environment, Innovation, Science & Technology, Social Service and Sports that deserve national recognition. Each awardee of PMRBP is given a medal, certificate and a citation booklet.

In a unique initiative, Artificial Intelligence was used for data crawling for the past 2 years through media content for selecting the awardees for this year apart from various other means.