Bringing laurels to the State, Cuttack boy Sambhab Mishra was conferred with the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar-2023. He received the award from President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Monday.
The 16-year-old student from Sikharpur area in Cuttack received the felicitation for his exceptional achievements in the field of art and culture.
Sambhab is among the 11 other awardees who won the prestigious award which is given for exceptional achievement in six categories namely Innovation, Social Service, Scholastic, Sports, Art & Culture and Bravery.
Each awardee was given a medal, a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a certificate.
"Sambhab Mishra from Odisha, has written many noteworthy articles and books for renowned publications. He was bestowed with the prestigious “Fellowship of the Royal Asiatic Society, London”, the youngest ever fellow in the 200 years history of the society. My best wishes to him," tweeted Smriti Irani, Union Minister for Women & Child Development and Minister for Minority Affairs.
This year, 11 children from across the country have been selected for the awards. They include 6 boys and 5 girls, belonging to 11 states and UTs.
In order to reward the children for acts of bravery, the awards were instituted in 1996. In 2018, the award was renamed as 'Bal Shakti Puraskar'.
The awards are given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The ministry releases guidelines before the selection of the awardees. An ideal candidate must be an Indian and also living in India. He or she must be in the age group of 5 to 18 years. Those above or below this age group are not eligible for the award.