Port Blair, July 24: The Government of India, Ministry of Women & Child Development has instituted the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar to felicitate meritorious children in the country. The award is given to brave children as a tribute to the great valour and supreme sacrifice of Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh, younger sons of the tenth Sikh Guru, Govind Singh Ji for their supreme and unparalleled sacrifice on 26th December 1705 at the tender age of 9 and 6 years, respectively. The award is to commemorate the abiding commitment of the Government towards children and their well being. It will also provide an opportunity to understand and appreciate the capabilities and contribution of children in building our society and nation. The awards will inspire citizens to follow the league of PMRBP awardees. The recipients of the award shall be declared on 26th December on 'Veer Bal Diwas'. The maximum number of awards would be 25. However, any relaxation to this maximum number may be permitted at the discretion of the National Selection Committee. The Award in each category shall carry a Medal, a Certificate and Cash Prize of Rs. One lakh.

These awards aim to give due recognition to young hearts who have done selfless acts of exceptional bravery for others and to young children with exceptional abilities and outstanding achievements. Child Bravery Award is given to a child to acknowledge her/his selfless service in the face of risk to her/ his own life; and/or an act of outstanding courage and daring against an adverse natural or man-made situations; and/ or an exceptional act of mental strength, quick wit and presence of mind in the face of grave danger to self and society.

Child Excellence Award is given to children with exceptional abilities and outstanding achievements in Sports, Social Service, Science & Technology, Environment, Arts & Culture And Innovation, which deserve due recognition at the national level. These awards are conferred by the Hon'ble President of India in a special ceremony at New Delhi.

Any child, who is an Indian Citizen and residing in India, and not exceeding 18 years (as on the last date of receipt of application/ nomination) may apply for the award. The act/incident/achievement should have been within 2 years of the last date of receipt of application/ nomination for the year of consideration in the website i.e. https://awards.gov.in. The applications for the PMRBP 2024 are to be received only on the online portal https://awards.gov.in upto 31.08.2023, designed for this purpose. There are two options on the portal i.e. either the applicant child himself/herself can fill the form or anyone else parents/ officials/ teachers etc can nominate the child.

The applicant should not be a previous recipient of the same award earlier in any category (including National Child Awards for Exceptional Achievement as were awarded by the Ministry earlier).

If any applicant has applied in more than one category, it will be at the discretion of the National Selection Committee to accept only one application.