SOCIAL SERVICE · TRIPURA

She stopped her own child marriage — then kept watch for others

Jyotsna Aktar of South Tripura refused the marriage arranged for her in Class 9, then became the student leader campaigning against child marriage in her village — work honoured with the national Bal Puraskar.

By The Young Achievers2 min readSources checked 22 October 2026

✓ Verified · Age 16

Jyotsna Aktar · 16 in January 2024 (PTI; Tripura Star News)

Filed under: Social Service · Tripura · Child-marriage prevention

Jyotsna Aktar receiving the Bal Puraskar citation scroll from President Droupadi Murmu, with Minister Smriti Irani beside them

President Droupadi Murmu presents the Bal Puraskar citation to Jyotsna Aktar at Vigyan Bhawan, 22 January 2024 · Photograph: Tripura Star News · Image source ↗

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The achievement

Jyotsna Aktar is a student of PM Shree Amjad Nagar High School in South Tripura. When she was in Class 9, her parents — struggling with poverty, the reports say — arranged her marriage.

Jyotsna pleaded to be allowed to keep studying, reached out for help, and her teachers and Child Line intervened and persuaded her family to call the marriage off. On 22 January 2024, aged 16, she received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in the Social Service category from President Droupadi Murmu at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

Balika Manch

Stopping her own marriage was not the end of it. Jyotsna became the convener of her school’s Balika Manch — a girls’ platform that campaigns against child marriage — carrying the message from village to village: let girls study and grow up first.

Regional reporting was already covering her campaigning in May 2023, months before the national award. Her own published plea is simple: “Please allow us to study and grow into adulthood.”

✳ A spark to explore

If a friend told you she was being taken out of school to be married, what could you actually do — and who would you tell first? That is a question from us, not part of her record.