Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with a child awardee of the PM Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2025, in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI Video Grab)
In 2020, Chandigarh resident Vansh Tayal was only 12 when he lost both his parents to the Covid pandemic. At the child care institute he was sent to, Vansh was battling feelings of abandonment, anger and grief when he came across a child half his age. “Due to cerebral palsy, he doesn’t have motor skills to even feed himself. My first thought was, ‘if this child can survive and continue living, what’s stopping me’?” says Vansh, now 17.
Under the supervision of his mentors at Snehalaya, Vansh began taking care of the child — from helping him with his physiotherapy to feeding and toilet training him. Months shy of 18, Vansh says he wouldn’t stop taking care of the boy even after leaving the institute. “I will be shifted to an adult centre… But I’ll get a job and pay for the things he needs … I want to pursue clinical psychology and do social work in the future,” he says.
Vansh was among the 20 children who were awarded the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) by President Droupadi Murmu Friday.
Conferred annually, the award recognises exceptional achievements of children across six categories: Bravery, Social Service, Environment, Sports, Art & Culture, and Science & Technology.
Another recipient of the award is Yogita Mandavi (14) from Chhattisgarh. Like Vansh, she was orphaned at a young age. At the state home for girls in Kondagaon she was sent to, all that Yogita could think of was going back to her village. “Mera mann nahi lagta tha (I did not feel at home),” she says softly, smiling at her teachers who accompanied her to Delhi.
It was these teachers who convinced her to take up a hobby. Yogita distinctly remembers watching Ranjita Koreti, a fellow inmate, flip grown adults on the judo mat. “I never thought I could excel at it. But when I won the state championship in 2023, I thought maybe I was actually good at the sport,” she says, adding she wants to get medals like “Ranjita didi,” and “maybe one day, go to the Olympics as well”.
Earlier this year, Sharvan Singh (10) watched in awe as truckloads of soldiers during Operation Sindoor entered the small Punjab hamlet he lives in, barely 2 km from India-Pakistan border. With the armies of the two countries exchanging fire, Sharvan wanted to be of some help to the soldiers posted near his house. Despite orders to not venture out, Sharvan went to the encampments with glasses of tea, milk, and lassi. “I want to become an army officer when I grow up,” he shares with pride after receiving his medal.
For Agra resident Ajay Raj (9), watching his father draw water from the Yamuna was a daily affair. But one day, he noticed an odd movement in the water. Before he could yell out a warning, a crocodile emerged and grabbed his father’s right leg. Raj caught hold of a stick and began tackling the massive reptile.
“It was not like I was not scared for my life. At one point, the crocodile began moving towards me too… but at that moment, all that I could think of was my father,” he says. Ajay’s father, who accompanied
his son to Delhi, still bears a massive scar from the attack. “It still hurts from time to time, but I am glad my son saved me…,” he says.