Uttam Tanti is a resident of Dhekiajuli, Assam. In the 2019 floods, Uttam displayed unflinching courage by saving the lives of a woman and her 5-year-old child.
Bravery doesn’t revolve around age, proves a 13 year old from Assam. Uttam Tanti of Assam’s Dhekiajuli district has been selected for the National Bravery Award 2023. The 13 year old boy with all his courage, rescued a woman and her son during flood. In a massive flood of 2019, Uttam Tanti saved a 5 year old boy along with a woman who were in the verge of losing their lives.
Uttam who was just 10-year-old at the time of the incident, without thinking about his life, jumped into the rising flood waters and saved the woman and her child who were carried away by the rising river current. With his quick thinking, Uttam managed to pull out both the woman and her child and brought them to the banks while saving their lives.
Uttam Tanti will be conferred with the National Bravery Award 2023 for displaying courage in the face of oddities in the forthcoming Republic Day celebrations to be held on January 26.
Uttam is an amateur swimmer who has been swimming since the age of 5 and he is currently studying in 8th standard.
National Bravery Awards are a set of bravery awards given annually to about 25 children below 18 years of age for ‘meritorious acts of bravery against all odds.” The awards are given by the Government and Indian Council for Child Welfare. The award was instituted in 1957.
The awards are presented by the prime minister on the eve of Republic Day and prior to this the President hosts a reception in their honour, where the children meet the media. On 26 January, the awardees take part in the Republic Day parade at Rajpath, New Delhi.