The achievement
Saiyam Mazumder lives in Guwahati, Assam. He began rescuing and caring for stray animals at the age of ten, and at twelve turned to snakes — answering calls, catching snakes that had strayed into homes and releasing them safely, and teaching people why snakes matter and why they should not be killed.
On 22 January 2024, aged 15, he received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in the Social Service category from President Droupadi Murmu at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
The work
The award citation calls him India’s youngest snake rescuer — that is the citation’s wording, and the same description is publicly used for another young Assam rescuer, so it is reported here as the citation’s phrase, not as a settled title. Profiles credit him with rescuing more than a thousand dogs and hundreds of snakes; those counts are the profiles’ figures, not independently audited ones.
His consistent message in interviews is a safety one: never touch or corner a snake yourself — call a trained rescuer or the forest department, and let the snake be released alive.
Most people are afraid of snakes. What is one animal you are afraid of — and what would you need to learn about it before that fear changed? That is a question from us, not part of his record.
SOURCES
- NE India Broadcast · award report, 19 January 2024 ↗ · Regional news report
- PIB · official PMRBP 2024 awardee list ↗ · Official award list
