Prez Murmu to confer Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2024 on Jan 22

President Droupadi Murmu will confer the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2024 to 19 exceptional children in an award ceremony that will take place at Vigyan Bhawan on January 22, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Women and Child Development here on Friday.

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, will interact with Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awardees on January 23, it said.

The official press note stated that the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani, will interact with the children and congratulate them for their exemplary performances in their respective categories, along with the Minister of State, Munjpara Mahendrabhai.

The Puraskar will be conferred upon 19 children selected from all regions of the country for their exceptional achievements in the field of Art and Culture (7), Bravery (1), Innovation (1), Science & Technology (1), Social Service (4), and Sports (5). There are nine boys and 10 girls among the awardees, belonging to 18 states and Union Territoeis, including two aspirational districts, the statement added.

"The Government of India confers the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) award to children for their exceptional achievement. The awards are conferred upon the children in the age group of 5-18 years for their excellence in seven categories, which deserve national recognition. Each awardee of PMRBP is given a medal and a certificate," as per the statement.

This year, the Ministry of Women and Child Development made special efforts to increase nominations by issuing advertisements in regional newspapers and all major national newspapers. The National Award Portal was kept open for nominations for a longer period of time, from May 9 to September 15. Line Ministries, Chief Secretaries, and Administrators of all States, UTs, DMs, and DCs across the country were requested to give PMRBP-wide publicity through print and electronic media and other mediums so that the award is publicised and nominations are submitted from all levels, including Gram Panchayats, Municipalities, etc.

"Artificial intelligence has been used for data crawling for the past 2 years through media content. The Social Media Cell of the Ministry of WCD also searched for news content on children year-round in the news. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) was also tapped to recommend deserving candidates," it said.

"The integrity of claims was checked and verified through multiple layers, including district magistrates and domain experts, followed by a screening committee comprising experts in varied disciplines ," it added.

The profiles shortlisted after the screening committee meeting were again examined by national-level independent experts from various domains, such as Sangeet Natak Akademi, the Central Reserve Police Force, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Indian Space Research Organisation, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Indian Institute of Public Administration and the Sports Authority of India, amongst others. The National Selection Committee examined the shortlisted profiles for final selection.