Physical Bravery Below 15

Prachi Sen (Gold)
Prachi Santosh Sen was only 10 years when she saw her friends and siblings getting electrocuted, but she displayed extraordinary courage.
Prachi was playing on the rooftop of her house in Madhya Pradesh on July 2, 2007 with her four friends when one of them picked up an iron rod and lost his balance. The rod fell on a nearby high tension wire and her friend was trapped. When Prachi’s brother rushed to save her friend, he too got stuck to her friend. In the rescue attempt, two more of her friends got stuck to the wire. Prachi could have ran away to inform her parents but it would have taken time. She decided to act instead. She grabbed the iron rod with her left hand and pulled it away from the wire. Then she pushed her friends away with her right hand. Her left hand was badly damaged and had to be amputated.
“It doesn’t matter to me. I saved the lives of my friends and my siblings. I am happy about it,” she said.

Dinesh Vora (Gold)
Dinesh Vora, an 11-year old boy living in the Krishnanagar district, pulled off what could be considered the bravest act ever by a child. On July 8, 2005, a group of kidnappers hatched a plan to abduct Varsha Sharma on her way back from school. They were dragging her away in their car when Dinesh Vora spotted them and ran after them. He managed to catch up with them.
After a lot of fighting, in which he was badly hurt, he successfully managed to save Varsha from the clutches of the kidnappers. It was as if David had once again beaten Goliath—and as Dinesh proved, size (or age) really doesn’t matter.

Satyam Khandekar(Gold)
A class 2 student, Satyam was barely 6 years and a few months old when he had gone for a swim to the local swim and health club with his father. After his session, he was resting on the staircase near the pool when he saw a boy drowning and crying for help. He dived into the pool but by the time Satyam reached the boy, the boy’s body had already become stiff. When it became difficult to drag the boy alone, Satyam shouted for help.
Satyam says he was not afraid to jump into the pool. The boy was drowning and asking for help, so I went ahead and gave him a hand.

Physical Bravery Above 15

Rajesh Khatavkar (Gold)
Mr. Rajesh Khatavkar a resident of Belgaum was on a visit to the bank on 18th December, 2001. He had an encounter with the dacoits who had an intention to commit bank dacoity. Mr. Khatavkar struggled and caught hold of one dacoit along with the cash and handed them over to the police. His act of honesty, risking his life was indeed one that requires tremendous courage. In another such incident, there was a fire accident where a business premise ‘Wasim Gadi Kharkane’ was enveloped with fire in Pangulgalli. Mr. Khatavkar once again risked his life and saved a 6 month child and also prevented the spread of fire. Besides these incidents, Rajesh has also risked his life in saving the property in a fire accident in Khadebazaar and also in Bhovigalli. His efforts over the years to save lfie and property are indeed commendable.

Mohan Singh Thakur (Silver)
On June 12, 2004, Mohan Singh Thakur, a resident of Jalna district in Maharashtra, risked his life to save 5 people from drowning in a tank. Unfortunately, by the time he reached there, 2 people had passed away. Yet, risking his life, he managed to save the other 3 people.
What makes his feat remarkable was that the tank was close to 25 feet deep. It was being inspected by 5 cleanliness authorities, when one of them fell into the tank. He lost consciousness immediately, and when the others went to save him, they too got stuck at the bottom. Fortunately for them, Mohan Singh Thakur was there to save the day.

Social Bravery Above 15

Md. Yeasin Pathan (Gold)
Mohammad Yeasin Pathan’s determination to preserve a collection of 18th-century Hindu temples in eastern India was not shattered even though he faced ostracism from Muslims and flack from Hindus.
Pathan’s single-minded resolve to keep the temples from disappearing over the years due to theft of bricks and the corrosive impact of time and nature, bore fruit the day the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) agreed to consider declaring Pathra's temples as monuments of national importance and taking over their upkeep.
The ASI has already restored five temples, filling in cracks and putting in bricks in gaps created by stolen ones.

Vijay Saluja (Silver)
As an IIT Delhi graduate, Vijay Saluja joined the New Delhi Municipal Council in the hope of improving the overall living conditions for the people of New Delhi. Unfortunately this dream changed course when he was surrounded by the rampant corruption around him.
Instead of going with the flow, Saluja decided to swim against the corruption in the system, which resulted in a hostile work environment, financial instability, mental and physical stress and even death threats.
Saluja filed a civil petition in Delhi High Court citing his superiors' abuses of power, including massive squandering of public funds, and the damages to Saluja's career. The findings led to the restoration of Saluja’s 20 years of lost seniority, made him Chief Engineer of the department, and earned his adversaries contempt notices for dragging their feet.
Vijay Saluja has been sustained through the years by his devotion to the common good. "Callous waste of public funds, when abject poverty abounds, literally appalls me" says the Chief Engineer.