21-year-old youth from Giridih receives prestigious Diana Award

Ranchi: In recognition for creating and sustaining positive change, Neeraj Murmu, a former child labourer has been conferred with the prestigious 2020 Diana Award instituted in the memory of the late Princess of Wales, in a virtual ceremony.

Hailing from Giridih in Jharkhand, Murmu, was chosen for the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social and humanitarian efforts. He was withdrawn from the mica mines of the state in 2011, following which his village became a child friendly village (bal Mitra Gram, a flagship programme of the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation (KSCF). 

After his withdrawal, Murmu attended school and pledged to end child labour in his village. He went on to establish a local school to ensure that all children were able to access the right to education. Mumru has enabled 200 underprivileged children in his village to get education and has rescued 20 child labourers from mica mining and enrolled them in his school.

Under his leadership, many socio-economic issues related to his village have been addressed. These issues include rescuing or withdrawing children involved in work and enrolling them in school, hand pump installation and repair, facilitating electricity in village households and providing cooking gas connections through linking with government schemes.