17-year old Arushi Pant honoured with the prestigious Diana Award
Kolkata: A 17 year old girl from Kolkata, Arushi Pant, was honoured with 'The Diana Award' for being "a true leader". Pant went above and beyond to work in rural parts of Bengal ensuring education, protection and healthy living of children.
'The Diana Award' is given in the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, by a charity of the same name. It is upported by both her sons The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex.
Arushi, winner of the 2021 award, has set up an organisation that is 'for the children and by the children'. It is called "Children's Armour". Arushi, who at the age of 10 years worked with Association for Social Health and Advancement (ASHA) on a child protection project in the rural parts of the state, leads a team of 50 children who visit schools in several districts. Besides educating children about self defense, plays and musical evenings and other activities are also conducted by the team to bring a positive change in the children's lives.
Arushi also developed tools to create awareness about children's safety in the communities. 'Children's Armour' was born from Arushi's experience to sensitise the community. Apart from conducting field visits, Arushi - a student at Pathways World School Aravalli – plays a crucial role in holding fundraisers to serve the society during any distressed situation. She had raised Rs 1.40 lakh during the first wave of COVID and donated it to the Chief Minister's relief fund. Along with other organisations, she had played a crucial role in raising cash and essential goods worth Rs 7 lakh by holding cultural programmes on online platforms to support the victims of supercyclone Amphan.
Names of 'The Diana Award' recipients are put forward by adults who know such youngsters. Through a rigorous nomination process, these nominators thereafter demonstrate the nominee's impact in five key areas - Vision, Social Impact, Inspiring Others, Youth Leadership, and Service Journey. Nominations are judged using the Criteria Guide and Scoring Guide which has been created to measure quality of youth social action.
"We congratulate all our new 'Diana Award' recipients from the UK and all over the globe who are change-makers for their generation. We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own journey as active citizens. For over twenty years 'The Diana Award' has valued and invested in young people encouraging them to continue to make positive change in their communities and lives of others," said Tessy Ojo, CEO of 'The Diana Award'.
