Manipur lad Y Addison to receive national bravery award for children

NEW DELHI, Jan 18 : Twenty children including 11 girls will get the National Bravery Awards 2008 for showing immense courage to save someone or their own life. Y Addison Singh from Manipur is among the children selected for the prestigious award this year.

Delhi lad 12-year-old Rahul, who was an eyewitness of the serial blasts that rocked the national capital on September 13, 2008, is also among the twenty bravehearts selected for the National Bravery Awards for children, 2008.

The young balloon seller displayed exemplary courage in providing vital information about the blast suspects. He also helped the police to draw sketches of the two suspected terrorists who had planted a bomb in a dustbin at Barakhamba Road crossing near Connaught Place. Rahul was selling balloons when he saw two bearded men in black kurtas and pyjamas get off an autorickshaw and drop an object wrapped in black polythene into the dustbin and leave. The blast occurred 15 minutes later.

Unmindful of the risk to his life, Rahul stated boldly in front of the media and police that he could recognise the men if he saw them again. Rahul will receive the award, along with eleven girls and eight boys from Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh prior to the Republic Day and will ride on caparisoned elephants down Rajpath during the Republic Day parade.

He will receive the Bapu Gaidhani Award.

The award is also being posthumously given to late Kavita Kanwar who lost her life at a tender age of 15 years, trying to save her friends from a fire.

Other recepients of the award are Asu Kanwar, Kritika Jhanwar and Hina Querishi of Rajasthan, Silver Kharbani of Meghalaya, Anita Kora and Rina Kora of West Bengal, Dinu and Manjusha of Kerala, Y Addison Singh of Manipur, Shahansha of Uttar Pradesh, Vishal Patil of Maharastra, Marudu Pandi of Tamil Nadu, Bhoomika Moorty and Gagan Moorty of Karnataka, Manish Bansal of Haryana and Seema Kanwar of Chhattisgarh.

The Sanjay Chopra Award is being given to 13-year old Saumik Mishra of Uttar Pradesh who fought miscreants to foil a theft attempt. Ten-year-old Prachi Santosh of Madhya Pradesh who saved four children from getting electrocuted will receive the Geeta Chopra award.

President Pratibha Patil and several other dignitaries will host receptions in honour of these children ahead of the Republic Day.

The National Bravery Award Scheme was initiated by the Indian Council for Child Welfare in 1957 and since then a total of 756 children - 541 boys and 215 girls - have been given the award.

The awardees will be granted financial assistance until they complete their schooling under the sponsorship programme of the council. The government of India has also reserved some seats in medical, engineering and polytechnics for the recipients of the national bravery awards for children.