School students awarded for community service

A 15-year-old girl from Punjab who faced the menace of drug abuse took it upon herself to do something to uproot the problem of addiction from its roots.
"My father got arrested for drug abuse and my mother is still trying to cope up with the shock. Since he was the sole earning family member we had to face a lot of difficulties. It it then that I decided to counsel people against abusing drugs so that no other family faces what I did," says Amandeep Kaur, a class eight student in Vassan, Amritsar.
Amandeep says she has made visits to several homes in her village and has been counselling people since June 2014. She says she has made over 20 people give up on the drug habit.

"Initially when I started visiting homes with my grandmother, people did not take me seriously. They used to say I'm a mad little kid. But gradually they started taking me more seriously and some boys gave up their addiction," says Amandeep.
The teen has got support from her friends and together they say they counsel people in their villages about the ill-effects of the drugs.
Amandeep has been selected as one of the finalists of the annual Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards which rewards voluntary community service done by children from across the country.

In Delhi, Satyav Garg, a tenth standard student decided to stand against superstition by initiating a movement two years ago.

Black cats crossing one's path and breaking of mirrors and are some superstitions, says Garg that are used to instill fear in people's minds and extort money
Garg, who has authored a book 'The Actual Freedom-Freedom from Superstition', says that he was inspired by the 2012 Indian satirical comedy-drama 'Oh My God!.'
"The film became the inspiration behind my movement. I decided to take up the cause and try to free the society of those who manipulate religion for their use," says Garg.