National Bravery Award Winning Children Meet The President Of India Including Girls Called By Her Last Year For Resisting Child Marriage

The National Bravery Awards Winning Children met the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi today. The children are currently in the national capital, as part of the celebrations of the 61st Republic Day on January 26th.

The awardees included Km. Rekha Kalindi, Km. Sunita Mahato and Ms. Afsana Khatun of West Bengal who displayed outstanding courage in standing up against the social evil of child marriage and set an example in their community. These very same girls had been called to Rashtrapati Bhavan by the President on May 14th last year to be congratulated and encouraged by her for their good work.

Speaking on the occasion then, the President had said that she was very happy that the girls had shown courage in resisting child marriage. The President said the girls' courage, has had a positive effect on their communities and is leading to more girls resisting child marriage. The President felt that social evils could only be brought to an end through more awareness. It is not only necessary to send girls to school but it is also necessary to give them social education to make them aware of the social evils which they must resist. A child marriage according to the President destroys at least 10 other lives, as the young child soon becomes a mother, and then becomes victim of failing health due to numerous childbirths, which ultimately, affects the health of her children. This then goes to continue the cycle of poverty from which a family can never recover.

The award winners included Master Gaurav Singh Saini of Haryana, who received the Bharat Award, Baby Maibam Prity Devi of Manipur, who received the Geeta Chopra Award and Master Karan Nishad of Uttar Pradesh, who received the Sanjay Chopra Award.

The 21 award winners, two of them posthumous were from the states of Haryana, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Goa, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Rajasthan and West Bengal.

The President of Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW), Smt. Gita Siddhartha, and the Secretary General of ICCW, Shri S.C. Dobhal, were also present on the occasion.

This release issued at 18:00 hrs.