Dimapur, June 20: The Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) has invited nominations for the National Bravery Award for children. The ICCW called for nominations through state/union territory councils for the ICCW, various departments of the state, and commissioners of police from all the states and union territories.
The main criteria for the selection of candidates is the performance of a distinct and visible act of bravery in the face of an impending threat of injury or danger to life or an act of courage and daring against a social evil or crime, an official handout from the ICCW stated on Monday. Nominations are to be received in the prescribed application form which can be obtained from the ICCW headquarters office. The form should be recommended by two of the listed competent authorities:-
• Principal/headmaster of school in which the applicant is studying or head of Panchayat or Zila Parishad
• General Secretary or president of the State Council for Child Welfare.
• Collector/DM/government official of equivalent rank
• Superintendent of Police of the area or police official of higher rank.
The criteria for selection are that the child should be between 6 to 18 years of age on the date of incident.
Incidents should have occurred between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 with a relaxation of three months if it so deems fit, the ICCW stated. The awardees will receive a medal, a certificate and cash. The awardees will also receive various gifts from philanthropic organizations.
Additional benefits: eligible awardees are granted assistance until they complete their schooling also ICCW will provide financial assistance under a scholarship scheme to those undertaking professional courses such as engineering and medicine and to others until they complete graduation studies.
History
On Gandhi Jayanti day, 2 October 1957, India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was watching a performance Delhi’s Ramlila ground, at the Red Fort. During the performance, a short circuit caused a fire to break out in a decorated tent.
Harish Chandra Mehra, a 14-year-old scout, promptly took out his knife and ripped open the burning tent, saving the lives of hundreds of trapped people. This incident inspired Nehru to ask the authorities to establish an award to honour brave children from all over the country.
The first official National Bravery Awards were presented to Harish Chandra and one other child on 4 February 1958, by Prime Minister Nehru. The ICCW has continued the tradition ever since. The Sanjay Chopra Award and the Geeta Chopra Award were established in 1978, in memory of two Chopra children who lost their lives while confronting their kidnappers. The Sanjay and Geeta awards are given to a boy and a girl for acts of bravery. The Bharat Award was established in 1987, and the Bapu Gaidhani Award was established in 1988.
(Source: Wikipedia)
