The upgraded award scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar has been conferred by The President of India Ram Nath Kovind to 26 children, 2 individuals and 3 institutions, today at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.
Many of the ministry officers such as the Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi; Rakesh Srivastava and other Senior officers along with a sizeable number of children living in Child Care Institutions of Delhi have gathered together for the ceremony.
The Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar is from now divided into two categories. 26 children were awarded in the category Bal Shakti Puraskar, previously known as National Child Award under various fields like Innovation, Social Service, Scholastic, Sports, Art & Culture and Bravery. The bravery award has been added recently by the Ministry to the scheme. Each award carries a medal, a cash prize of Rs. 1, 00,000, book vouchers worth Rs. 10,000, a certificate and a citation. These children will participate in the Republic day parade on 26.1.2019.
2 individuals and 3 Institutions were awarded in the Category of Bal Kalyan Puraskar known before as National Child Welfare Award. The award for individual consists of a cash prize of one lakh, a medal, a citation and a certificate to each awardee. The award for institution contains a prize of Rs. 5, 00,000 each and a medal, a citation and a certificate.
The beneficiaries were selected from a total of 900 applications received through a special portal created for the purpose. The winners were selected through a rigorous process of critical analysis by a committee comprising of experts from varied disciplines like Sociology, Psychology, Mathematics, Science, Art, Music, and Sports etc. The final selection was made by the National Selection Committee; under the chairpersonship of the Honorable Minister, WCD.
In order to popularize the program amongst general public and make it more genial, this year the Ministry has launched an award website on 01st August 2018. The site was developed by NIC for accepting the applications online. A Child who is an Indian Citizen and residing in India could apply for National Child Award by registering on the web portal, filling the requisite information and attaching the relevant documents. In order to draw wide response from public, any citizen of India could nominate any child who has achieved excellence in any of the mentioned fields. For Bal Kalyan Puraskar, individuals who are citizens of India having made an outstanding contribution towards the cause of children in the field of Child Development, Child Protection or Child Welfare; thereby impacting the lives of children for more than 7 years were eligible for applying in this category.
