National Bravery Award: Himachal girl who saved 3 lives selected for national award

A girl student of a Himachal Pradesh school did an act of bravery in 2018 when she was in Class IX by rescuing her family members, comprising his ex-serviceman grandfather, and the driver who met a road accident, her teacher said on Wednesday.

Alaika Sharma, 15, of Anuradha Public Senior Secondary School in Maranda near Palampur town in Kangra district was travelling with her family in a car that skidded off the road and rolled down the hill in September 2018.

“Alaika was travelling with her mother and grandfather in a car when it met an accident at an isolated place,” her teacher Renu Katoch told IANS.

The car got struck in a tree while it was rolling down.

Despite being injured, she showed courage to come out of the car and climbed the hill. She stopped passersby for help.

Unlike Alaika, the single child of her parents, the other occupants of the car — her grandfather Capt (retd) K.K. Awasthi, mother Savita and the driver — were unconscious due to grievous injuries.

Her timely and courageous action saved three lives.

Twenty-two children — 10 girls and 12 boys — from 12 states have been selected for the ICCW National Bravery Awards 2019. One award has been given posthumously.

Indian Council of Child Welfare (ICCW) has instituted five special awards this year — ICCW Markandeya Award, ICCW Dhruva Award, ICCW Abhimanyu Award, ICCW Prahalada Award & ICCW Shravan Award.

The National Bravery Awards were started by the Indian Council for Child Welfare in 1957 to recognise children for outstanding deeds of bravery and meritorious service and to inspire others to emulate their example.

The ICCW has so far honoured 1,004 children with the award, including 703 boys and 301 girls.

Each awardee receives a medal, a certificate and cash.

The selected children get financial assistance through donations from philanthropists till they complete graduation. Those opting for professional courses such as engineering and medicine get financial support through scholarship schemes.