Shivani Gond and Tejasweeta Pradhan were honoured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.
Ahead of 69th Republic Day, 16 courageous have been selected from different parts of the country to be given the National Bravery award 2018. Of the 16 children, four would be awarded posthumously. The children have been selected from 13 states, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Karnataka, Punjab, Meghlaya, Odisha, Nagaland, Gujarat, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand. The National Bravery Awards are given every year under the aegis of the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) who scrutinize the applications and select the National Bravery Award winners. The award winners will also take part in the Republic Day march.
The National Bravery Awards are divided into five categories:
- Bharat Award
- Sanjay Chopra Award
- Geeta Chopra Award
- Bapu Gaidhani Award
- General National Bravery Awards
The recipients, selected from across India, are given a medal, certificate and a cash prize. They also receive financial assistance to complete their schooling.
Last year , 25 child received the national bravery award. Among them were two school girls who helped police bust a cross-border human trafficking racket, leading to the arrest of suspects in the cases of missing girls from both India and Nepal. Shivani Gond, 17, and Tejasweeta Pradhan, 18, were honoured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "showing exemplary courage" when acting as decoys to gain the trust of the traffickers, allowing police catch them red-handed.
The first National bravery Award was presented to two children in 1958 by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Among the recipient was Harish Chandra who, using his presence of mind, saved the lives of hundreds of people trapped in tent that caught fire due to a short circuit in at Delhi's Ramlila ground at the Red Fort when Mr Nehru was watching a performance. The Sanjay Chopra Award and the Geeta Chopra Award were established in 1978 in memory of two Chopra children who lost their lives while confronting their kidnappers. The Bharat Award was established in 1987 and the Bapu Gaidhani Award was established in 1988. The Sanjay and Geeta awards are given to a boy and a girl for acts of bravery.