Udupi schoolgirl gets a chance to speak in front of President

Avantika V. Rao, a Class IX student of Anandathirtha Vidyalaya, Pajaka, Udupi district bagged the prize in the Tata Building India School Essay Competition 2019-20

Avantika V. Rao, a Class IX student of Anandathirtha Vidyalaya, Pajaka, Udupi district, who had bagged first prize in an essay competition, got a rare opportunity to speak in front of President Droupadi Murmu in Delhi recently.

She bagged the prize in the Tata Building India School Essay Competition 2019-20. The competition was to instil a sense of pride and spirit of nation building among the youth. Many students from across the country had participated in this competition and 29, including Ms. Rao, emerged as winners, according to the school.

All the winners were taken to the Rashtrapati Bhavan on April 17, 2023. Of them, in addition to Ms. Rao, another student Kushi Prajapathi from Nagaur, Rajasthan, got the opportunity to speak in front of the President.

During her three-minute speech, Ms. Rao stressed on ‘Clean India’ and how each person should take the responsibility to achieve it. Recycling of waste will set things in the right direction, she said.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan release on that day said that the President congratulated the winners of the essay competition. She said that during the ‘Amrit Kaal’, the topic of the essay competition ‘Five things I will do to build a great India’ was quite relevant.

Ms. Murmu expressed confidence that when India celebrates 100 years of independence, the contribution of these young minds would be for the betterment of the country as a whole. The President urged children to dream big and try hard to realise their dreams.

It said that Ms. Murmu praised the organisers for providing a platform for young minds to showcase their ideas in writing on a specific topic of national importance or on social issues.