Shriya Lohia gets PM Bal Puraskar award for excellence in sport

New Delhi, 24 Jan 2022: Karting girl Shriya Lohia of Himachal Pradesh made the motorsports world proud by winning the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) award and interacted with the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi via video conference on Monday, the National Girl Child day on Jan 24.

Shriya, the 13-year old, became the second motorsports athlete to get the award, after Yash Aradhya got the award last year. She is the only motorsports athlete among the eight sportspersons awarded today along with 28 in other disciplines. The youngster is from Sundarnagar of Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh and is a regular at Meco Kartopia in Bengaluru for the last five years, where the National Karting Championships are held. Shriya was the “Outstanding Woman of the Year 2018”, awarded by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci) in her early career along with two other senior girls Mira Erda and Sneha Sharma. Shriya made her debut in 2018 as a 9-year old 5th class girl at Kartopia. She went on to win the fmsci award for a second year in 2019. Though many feel, that it is a long road ahead for Women in Motorsports, the Federation in tune with the international federation, FIA, and the Government of India, of late, have been recognising women, as part of the overall motorsports fraternity. Only recently, motorsports athletes started finding their names in the National awards starting with an Arjuna Award for rally driver Gaurav Gill.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about her today. On his official Twitter handle, he said: “The young and talented ShriyaLohia is an International Motorsports Karting Racer! She has won several national trophies and represented the country in international racing. Proud of her achievements. Congratulations to her for receiving the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar.” He tweeted with the following graphic at 8pm on Monday.

A keen learner, who always competed with boys, with mixed results, she finally honed her skills attending trainings in Malaysia and also competed in Italy. Her big day came when she won a race in the JK Tyre X-30 Karting Nationals on 13th July 2019 in her Class VI. In the same year, the Indira National School student, finished first in the FIA Girls on Track, also in Bengaluru. Now in a Delhi school, she used to frequent the Garden City, Pune and Hyderbad to take part in karting events. Shriya expressed her interest recently to move back to her ancestral home in Sundarnagar, local Himachal paper quoted her saying.

Twenty nine children have been conferred the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar this Year, selected from all regions of the country for their exceptional achievements in Innovation (7), Social Service (4), Scholastic (1), Sports (8), Art & Culture (6) and Bravery (3) categories.  There are 15 Boys and 14 Girls among the awardees belonging to 21 States and UTs.

In view of the unprecedented circumstances emerging due to COVID-19 situation in the country, it was not possible to organise a physical ceremony at New Delhi. In order to felicitate and motivate the exceptional works of children, a function was held virtually on the occasion of National Girl Child Day today and also as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The Awardees of PMRBP 2021 and 2022 along with their parents and concerned District Magistrate of their respective district joined the event from their district Head Quarters. 

During the function, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave digital certificates to the 61 winners of PMRBP 2021 and 2022 using a Block Chain-driven technology developed by IIT Kanpur under the National Blockchain Project.  The digital certificates are stored on digital wallets installed on the mobile devices of the recipients. The digital certificates issued using the blockchain driven technology are unforgeable, globally verifiable, selectively disclosable and sensitive to user content. Block Chain Technology is being used for the first time for giving certificates to the awardees.

The cash prize of Rs.1,00,000/- was given to the awardees of PMRBP 2022 which was transferred online to the respective accounts of winners during the programme by the Hon’ble PM.

The Hon’ble Prime Minister interacted virtually with the winners of PMRBP 2022. Union Women and Child Development Minister Smt Smriti Zubin Irani and Dr. Munjpara Mahendrabhai, Minister of State were among those present on the occasion.

Interacting with Kumari Tarushi Gaur from Chandigarh, the Prime Minister enquired about her opinion on the balance between sports and studies. The Prime Minister asked why Tarushi idolises Boxer Mary Kom. She informed the Prime Minister that she likes her because of her commitment to excellence and balance that she strikes as a sportsperson and as a mother. The Prime Minister said that the government is committed to providing all the facilities to the sportspersons and creating a mindset of winning at every level.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister noted that these awards become all the more significant in the light of the fact that they have been conferred during the important period when the country is celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. He said this is the time to draw energy from the past and dedicate oneself to achieving great results in the coming 25 years of the Amrit Kaal. He also greeted the daughters of the country on the National Girl Child Day. The Prime Minister remembered the glorious history of the Freedom Struggle and the contribution of Birbala Kanaklata Barua, Khudiram Bose and Rani Gaidinilu. “These fighters had made the country’s freedom the mission of their lives at a very young age and had dedicated themselves to it” the Prime Minister noted.

The Prime Minister said that in any sector, policies and initiatives are keeping youth at the centre. He cited initiatives like Start Up India, Stand Up India, Digital India, Make in India along with Jan Andolan of Aatmnirbhar India and creation of modern infrastructure. This, he said, is in sync with the speed of the youth of India who are leading this new epoch both in India and outside. The Prime Minister underlined the growing prowess of India in the innovation and start-up sphere. He conveyed the nation’s pride in the fact of major global companies being led by Indian young CEOs. “Today we feel proud when we see the youth of India excelling in the world of startups. Today we feel proud when we see that the youth of India are innovating, taking the country forward”, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said in areas where daughters were not even allowed earlier, daughters are doing wonders in them today. This is the new India, which does not hold back from innovating, courage and determination are the hallmarks of India today.

Minister Smriti Irani also tweeted about Shriya and said: Resident of Himachal Pradesh, Shriya started her journey as motorsports karting racer at the age of 9 years. She is the only girl in her age category to compete in the national championships. Shriya is awarded PMRBP 2022 in the field of Sports. #BetiBharatKi