The Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar () is a civilian honour in India. The award has two categories: ''Bal Shakti Puraskar'', awarded to Indian citizens under the age of 18 for outstanding achievement in innovation, scholastic achievements, social service, arts and culture, bravery, or sports, and ''Bal Kalyan Puraskar'', to individuals or organisations that have made outstanding contributions in child development, child protection, or child welfare. The Bal Kalyan Puraskar, previously the National Child Welfare Awards, was instituted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 1979, and the Bal Shakti Puraskar, previously the National Child Award, was instituted by the

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

Indian Council for Child Welfare in 1996. In 2018, the two awards were renamed and combined into the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, which is administered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It is conferred by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

in the week preceding

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

, 26 January, in the Durbar Hall of

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; originally Viceroy's House and later Government House) is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati Bh ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. Previously, the awards were conferred on

Children's Day Children's Day is a commemorative date celebrated annually in honor of children, whose date of observance varies by country. In 1925, International Children's Day was first proclaimed in Geneva during the World Conference on Child Welfare. Sin ...

. The

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

also meets with the awardees at his residence,

7, Lok Kalyan Marg 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, formerly 7, Race Course Road, is the official residence and principal workplace of the Prime Minister of India. Situated on '' Lok Kalyan Marg'', New Delhi, the official name of the Prime Minister's residence complex is ''P ...

and the awardees take part in the Republic Day parade. In 2021 and 2022, owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the award ceremony was shifted online, and besides the Prime Minister meeting the awardees in a video conference, it was the first ever instance of blockchain certificates (built in association with

IIT-Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) Hindi: भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान कानपुर) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was ...

) being presented to awardees for both the years.

Award

The award includes a medal, a cash prize, a citation and a certificate. Children who win the Bal Shakti Puraskar also receive book vouchers, and participate in the Republic Day Parade.

Eligibility and nominations

Bal Kalyan Puraskar

Bal Kalyan Puraskar has two categories, for individuals and for institutions. Three awards are given in each category. In the individual category, Indian citizens who are 18 years old or above on 31 August in the year they are nominated, and who are not employed by an institution, are eligible to be nominated. Institutions working within "any field of child welfare" can be nominated for the institutions category. In the case of both individuals and institutions, the nominee must have been active for a number of years in the field they are nominated within.

Bal Shakti Puraskar

Children who are Indian citizens and who are between the ages of 5 and 18 on 31 August in the year they are nominated are eligible for the Bal Shakti Puraskar. Any Indian citizen may nominate a child for the award. The deadline for nominations is 31 August each year, for the awards that are given in January of the following year.

Selection committee

The awardees are selected by a committee including representatives of the Ministry of Women and Child Development and a number of other departments, as well as subject experts in the relevant fields.

Notable recipients

National Child Award / Bal Shakti Puraskar

Palak Muchhal Palak Muchhal (born 30 March 1992) is an Indian singer and lyricist from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. She and her younger brother Palash Muchhal perform stage shows across India and abroad to raise funds for the poor children who need financial as ...

(2000) * S. J. Jananiy (2001) *

Akshat Chopra Akshat Chopra is an Indian film actor, model, and dancer, who was one of 36 children awarded the National Child Award in 2007 for exceptional achievement in their fields. Presently, he is an elected member of the executive committee of the Pub ...

(2007) * Kishan SS (2009) * Akash Manoj (2017) *

Zaira Wasim Zaira Wasim (born 23 October 2000) is an Indian former actress who worked in Hindi films. The recipient of numerous accolades, including a Filmfare Award and a National Film Award, Wasim was honoured with the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puras ...

(2017) *

Dev Joshi Dev Joshi (born 28 November 2000) is an Indian television actor known for portraying the role of Baal Veer in Sony Sab's '' Baal Veer'' and ''Baalveer Returns''. He has worked in more than 20 Gujarati movies and many advertisements. He is also k ...

(2019) * Esow Alben (2019) * Mohammed Suhail Chinya Salimpasha (2019) * Shivangi Pathak (2019) *

Esha Singh Esha Singh (born 1 January 2005) is an Indian amateur shooter. She became the national champion in the 10m Air Pistol category in 2018 in 2018. She won silver medal at Junior World Cup at Suhl, Germany in 2019, two gold medals at Asian Junior ...

(2020) *

Jyoti Kumari Jyoti Kumari (born ) is an Indian student from Sirhulli in the rural Darbhanga district of Bihar. She came to notice after she bicycled some with her injured father to reach their home village during COVID-19 lockdowns in India. She was given ...

(2021) * Souhardya De (2021) * Prasiddhi Singh (2021) * Arshiya Das (2021)

References

{{India Honours and Decorations Indian children Civil awards and decorations of India Awards established in 1979 Awards established in 1996