President Draupadi Murmu presented the National Teachers Award 2024 to 82 teachers on National Teachers’ Day, celebrated on the birth anniversary of former Vice President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. The ceremony was organized to honor those who have made remarkable contributions in the education sector.
Addressing the awardees, President Murmu said, “The most important role in the success of any education system is that of teachers. Teaching is not just a job. It is a sacred mission of human development.” She also spoke about the vision of renowned Indian author Rabindranath Tagore and said, “Gurudev had a clear vision that if a teacher does not acquire knowledge himself, he cannot truly teach. It is impossible to light a lamp whose flame is not lit.”
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The awardees also include Urfana Amin from Jammu and Kashmir, who teaches at BHSS Soura in Hawal, Srinagar. Amin, an expert in English, entrepreneurship and teacher training, provided radio classes during the Covid-19 pandemic and developed educational content such as FLN modules and e-content for Diksha.
Dwiti Chandra Sahu of Government High School, Bilesu, Odisha, works in a remote hilly district where connectivity is poor and power cuts are frequent. Sahu was awarded for integrating ICT in his teaching without depending on electricity or the internet. His initiatives include creating educational games, a YouTube channel and PDF content. He also uses tribal language dictionaries, bilingual story books and recycled materials for low-cost educational tools. Sahu set up a school cooperative store, a tribal museum, an MLE reading corner and a crafts corner.
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Sagar Chittaranjan Bagde of SM Lohia High School and Junior College, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, organised social programmes and campaigns for orphans, tribals, young HIV patients and persons with disabilities. He also arranged folk dance and ballet performances which have received international recognition.
The awardees also included two professors from IIT and one from IISER. Nidhi Jain of IIT Delhi was honoured for her outstanding contribution to chemistry with 16 years of teaching experience. She has over 80 research papers and over 3,900 citations.
Vinay Sharma of IIT Roorkee has 30 years of experience in marketing innovation and low-cost energy solutions. He was honored for his work on the Ganga River Basin Environmental Management Plan and projects in the northwestern Himalayas, which led to patented technologies now being commercialized.
Srinivas Hotha of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune was honoured for significant contributions to chemistry, including research on gold-catalysed glycosidation and complex glycan probes. He also developed the TLC-MS interface, SWADESI, for confirmation of drug molecular weight. Hotha has published over 100 research papers.
The National Teacher Award is given to teachers who have improved the quality of education and enriched the lives of students. Each award consists of a certificate of merit, a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and a silver medal. The awardees will also get an opportunity to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This year’s 50 awardees included teachers from 28 states, 3 union territories and 6 organizations. These include 16 women, 2 persons with disabilities and 1 teacher working with children with special needs. Apart from this, 16 teachers from the Department of Higher Education and 16 from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship were also honored.
