The Geeta Chopra Award is a prestigious civilian award in India, mainly given to the children under the age of 16 years, for their acts of bravery. The award is given under the National Bravery Awards category that was introduced in the year 1957, by the first Prime Minister of India, Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru. The Geeta Chopra Award was introduced for the first time in the year 1978, in memory of one of the two Chopra children, who died while fighting against their kidnappers. Geeta was the girl among the two children and hence, the award named after her is given exclusively to the brave girls. The Prime Minister of India presents the award to the awardees, along with the other National Bravery Awards. Since 1978, a number of girls have become Geeta Chopra Awardees for their outstanding deeds of bravery and selfless sacrifice.
A partial list of the Geeta Chopra Awardees is given below:
Year | Name | Notes | Age | Indian state of origin |
2000 | Heena Bakshi | Foiled robbery attempt. | 13 years | Haryana |
2001 | Prem Kanwar | Lost life while trying to rescue four other children from drowning. | 13 years | Rajasthan |
2002 | Guddiben Kalubhai Masher | Saved an infant"s life by fighting a wild animal. | 13 years | - |
2003 | Ramseena R.M. | Lost her leg, while trying to save a child from a speeding car. | 12 years | Kerala |
2004 | Boya Geethanjali | For fighting seven armed Naxalites at Ananthapuram village, securing the release of a woman Member of Legislative Assembly they were trying to abduct, and forcing the Naxalites to flee. | 12 years | Andhra Pradesh |
2005 | Seidalyne Mawtyllup | For saving her three month old sister from a blazing house. | 10 years | Meghalaya |
2006 | Vandana Yadav | For fighting three local goons single-handedly, suffering 17 stab wounds, and later turning up to identify culprits in the police station. | 13 years | Uttar Pradesh |
2007 | Lalrempuii | For resisting her rapist even though she lost her life in the bargain. | 14 1/2 years | Mizoram |
2008 | Prachi Santosh Sen | For saving four children from getting electrocuted, in which her left hand had sternly burnt. | 10 years | Madhya Pradesh |
2009 | Maibam Prity Devi | For saving several lives when she rushed and threw away a grenade hurled at her family-owned shop by miscreants, herself hit by exploding splinter. | 10 years | Manipur |