This Anoushka’s anti-bullying app lands her PM Rashtriya Bal Puraskar

New Delhi: She is just 13 and what she is doing at her tender age, many of her contemporaries can only think of. Riding high on tremendous nerve, sheer patience, iron determination, robust optimism, she is now on cloud nine as she has been awarded with Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP).

Her joy knows no boundaries as she has become an inspiration for other girls. She is Anoushka Jolly, a student of the Pathways School in Gurugram, who invented an app called ‘Anti-Bullying Squad Kavach’. Awarded in the Social Service Category, she had even raised funds for her invention at the popular TV show ‘Shark Tank’.

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded her efforts. In a Tweet message, he said, “Youngsters like Anoushka Jolly have shown remarkable compassion and innovation. She is diligently working on an App and other online programmes to spread awareness against bullying. Glad that she is now a Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awardee.”

Anoushka’s father is a chartered accountant and an entrepreneur, and she wants to follow her father to become an entrepreneur as well. She started her social venture, ‘Anti-Bullying Squad’, in August 2018 when she was nine-year-old. Her aim is to stop bullying in schools and campuses and make the world a kinder and more empathetic place.

Her initiative aims to minimise bullying by raising awareness among children and in educational institutions. The digital platform acts as a community where specialists come together to organise sessions in schools for counselling students and spreading awareness against bullying.

The Government of India has been conferring the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar to children for their exceptional achievement in six categories namely Innovation, Social Service, Scholastic, Sports, Art & Culture and Bravery. Each awardee is given a medal, a cash prize of Rs. 1 Lakh and certificate.

This year, 11 children from across the country, under different categories of Bal Shakti Puraskar, have been selected for PMRBP-2023. The awardees, belonging to 11 States and UTs, include 6 boys and 5 girls, namely: Aadithya Suresh, M. Gauravi Reddy, Shreya Bhattacharjee, Sambhab Mishra, Rohan Ramchandra Bahir, Aditya Pratap Singh Chauhan, Rishi Shiv Prasanna, Anoushka Jolly, Hanaya Nisar, Kolagatla Alana Meenakshi and Shauryajit Ranjitkumar Khaire.