♦ Akarsh Shroff of Bengaluru was conferred the prestigious National Youth Award for his ‘commitment to improving quality of early childhood education at anganwadi centres in India’.

♦ The award was conferred during a ceremony at Parliament House in Delhi by Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya.

♦ A total of 22 awardees were honoured across both the years (2024, 2025).

♦ The National Youth Awardis conferred by the Ministry of Youth Affairs to recognise the excellent efforts of youth working towards national development and social service.

♦ The prize recognises work in health, research, culture, human rights, tourism, education, sports, innovation, community service, by people under the age of 30.

♦ Akarsh founded YuvaSpark as a 17-year-old high school student in 2018.

♦ The organisation has built technology platforms that have digitised learning at over 600 anganwadi centres across rural India.

♦ To enhance quality of education at anganwadis (early childhood education centres in rural India), YuvaSpark’s digital platform is periodically providing teachers with custom-curated interactive vernacular language academic content.