President Meets National Bravery Award Winning Children And Lauds Courage Shown By Girl Awardees

The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil met children who have won the National Awards for Bravery for the year 2007 at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

Smt. Patil met each awardee individually after his or her act of bravery was announced. The President commended the children for showing exemplary courage in the face of overwhelming odds.

The President was particularly impressed by the courage shown by one of the awardees, Kumari Congress Kunwar who resisted her family's attempts to marry her off at the tender age of 13 years. Smt. Patil said Congress Kunwar stood up against members of the family against a social evil, which destroys the lives of many young girls in the country. The President said resisting a member of the family is sometimes much more difficult than resisting outsiders in a physical act of crime. The President added that if girls can come forward in this way, many social evils, which hurt women and girls, could be eliminated.

Smt. Patil also commended the other children for their bravery and said they were role models for not only for the youth but also for the nation.