Vice President Ansari meets National Bravery Award winners

New Delhi, Jan 24 (ANI): Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari on Tuesday met the twenty-four children who won the National Bravery Awards-2011.

Ansari, who interacted with the brave children praised their valourous acts and wished them grand success in their lives.

The children on their part shared with him their acts of bravery.

Twenty-four children have been selected for the National Bravery Awards, including five children posthumously.

The awardees received a medal, certificate and cash. The prestigious Bharat Award was given to the late master Kapil Singh Negi from Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand) who displayed exemplary valour and sacrificed his life while saving his school mates.

The Geeta Chopra award was given to Km. Mittal Mahendrabhai Patadity of Ahmedabad who displayed extraordinary courage in fighting robbers and the Sanjay Chopra Award was given to Master Om Prakash Yadav from Azamgarh who showed exemplary courage and valour in saving several lives .

Bapu Gaidhani Awards was given to three children - late Master Aditya Gopal from Itanagar for extraordinary bravery in saving his friend's life and sacrificing his own life; Master Uma Shankar from Delhi for his sense of duty and heroic action in saving five lives. Anjali Singh Gautam from Dantewada ( Chattisgarh) for her daring and courageous act in saving her brother's life.

All the awardees will participate in this year's Republic Day Parade.

Since the inception of the awards, 824 children, including 584 boys and 240 girls have been awarded by Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW). The awardees will be granted financial assistance until they complete their school education under a ICCW sponsorship programme.

Financial assistance is provided by some State Governments also. The ICCW provides financial assistance under its 'Indira Gandhi Scholarship Scheme' to those children who undertake professional courses such as engineering and medicine. For other children, this assistance is provided till they complete their graduation.

The Government of India has reserved some seats for the awardee children in medical and engineering colleges and polytechnics. (ANI)