On International Youth Day Proud to be BITSian Prince Singhal BITS Pilani alumnus Bags National Youth Award

Youth are a transformative force; they are creative, resourceful and enthusiastic agents of change both in public squares and cyberspace. The development of the country is in the hands of youth who can shape its future. If the energy of youth is channelized in right direction, the progress of country in various fields can gain momentum, and youth can become prosperous. Youth can undoubtedly be change makers in thrust areas like promotion of national values, social harmony, national unity, education, health, sports and recreation, gender justice, participation in community service, environment and climate change issues, local government etc.

Considering the undisputed role of youth, Government of India has earmarked a separate ministry for Youth Affairs and Sports and is presently headed by dynamic Shri Kiren Rijiju. The ministry has installed National Youth awards to motivate young persons (aged between 15 – 29 years), to achieve excellence in the field of national development or social service to encourage young people to develop a sense of responsibility to the community and thus to improve their own personal potential as good citizens. The award also has an objective to give recognition to the outstanding work done by voluntary organizations working with the youth for national development and / or social service. The individual award comprises a medal, a certificate and cash prize of 50 thousand rupees while a cash prize of two lakh rupees is given to the youth organisation.

Prince Singhal is an Advisor cum Development Associate to Shri Nishikant Dubey Member of Parliament from Godda constituency in Jharkhand. He was also the youngest fellow to be selected for the first batch of Supporting Parliamentarians on Analysis and Research in the Constituency SPARC fellowship to bridge development at grassroots. Initiated in the year 2016, SPARC) Fellowship is a Tata Trusts supported joint venture between the Swaniti Initiative and Constitution Club of India. The objective of the SPARC Fellowship is to support Members of Parliament in catalyzing development in their constituency, by placing a dedicated individual in the constituency for a period of one year.

He has been working in the Left Wing Extremism - LWE affected districts of Godda, Dumka and Deoghar to lead tribal to development. In the last 2 years, he worked in collaboration with the government, administration, organizations and people to start a change on ground. His work for the model villages was recognized by Hon’ble Minister of Rural Development and is recorded as a documentary by news agency N7India.com.

Prince Singhal was a student of Birla Institute of Technology and Science – BITS Pilani Rajasthan and did his BE Chemical Engineering during 2012-2016. As a student of BITS Prince volunteered with NSS and Nirmaan and was instrumental in the implementation of various developmental schemes in and around Pilani. He was the core member to organize the first editions of Junoon (sporting event for the specially-abled) and Youth Conference at BITS. It was during his leadership that NSS- BITS was awarded by Hon’ble Minister of Health for the highest blood units collected by any educational institute. Serving as the Project Lead and Coordinator, he took multiple educational and livelihood initiatives focusing on the empowerment of rural women encouraging them to market handmade products, which was also appreciated by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi during his visit to Pilani. All these voluntary roles bagged him with the Global Engineering Leadership Scholarship and Spirit of Invention Award during his studies.

After graduation, he joined Avanti to positively transform educational status at the grassroots.He also interned with OnlineRTI.com and drafted over 1000 RTI applications, ensuring transparency in the system. His RTI on cesarean deliveries made Hon’ble Minister of Health to regularize the commercialization of cesarean operations. He also worked as a freelance journalist and wrote data backed articles on the pressing issues like agriculture, health, agitations, bureaucracy etc.

In a colorful function held at the Ashok Hotel New Delhi on 12 Aug 2019 which also happens to be International Youth Day, Prince Singhal received the coveted National Youth Award from Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju. To quote UN Secretary-General António Guterres message for the day “Today, we celebrate the young people, youth-led organizations, Governments and others who are working to transform education and uplift young people everywhere.”

Beaming with pride Prince Singhal with the medal, certificate and INR 50 thousand in cash said that he has received offers for higher education in Public Policy and Administration from London School of Economics and Political Science, University of Bristol, University of Edinburgh etc but has no plans of joining them this year as he is currently focused on Bharat Ek Naya Khoj. With a mischievous wink in his eye, Prince Singhal said “I am not yet 30 and I hope to win BITSAA Global 30 Under 30 Awards soon and also become a Distinguished Alumnus of Alma mater BITS Pilani in coming times.”

For more details see https://www.bitsaa.org/

Prof BR Natarajan
BITS Pilani Alumnus
Pilani Rajasthan India 333031
Phone: +91-9799476406
Email: brnatarajan@bitsaa.org
Website: https://www.bitsaa.org/

About BITSAA: BITS Alumni Association (BITSAA) has emerged as one of the strongest alumni networks of any university. BITSAA International engages in charitable and educational activities by raising funds for setting up endowments, creating scholarships, rewarding teaching and research and generally promoting the development of resources at BITS - Birla Institute of Technology and Science at Pilani, Dubai, Goa & Hyderabad campuses. BITSAA International also aims to strengthen the ties, friendship and communication amongst former students, alumni faculty and friends of the Institute. BITSAA International provides a number of channels for people to stay connected with each other and with Birla Institute of Technology & Science. Notable other alumni initiatives for BITS Pilani include Prof SSR Memorial Teaching Excellence Award, Atma Nirbara multi crore Pilani Resource Centre by 75-80 batch alumni, Prashant Anuradha Palakurthi Research Endowment and many more. For more on BITSAA see https://www.bitsaa.org/

This release was published on openPR.