<Li> General National Bravery Awards, since 1957 </Li> <P> The awards are given to children who were between the ages of six to eighteen when they committed their acts of bravery . The award includes a medal, a certificate, and a cash prize . The Bharat Award winner gets a gold medal, while the rest get a silver medal . Each child is also given financial assistance to complete his or her schooling, as a part of ICCW's sponsorship program, under the Indira Gandhi scholarship scheme . In 2009, the Government of India announced it was reserving some seats in medical, engineering and polytechnic colleges for the winners of the awards . </P> <P> On Gandhi Jayanti day, 2 October 1957, India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was watching a performance Delhi's Ramlila ground, at the Red Fort . During the performance, a short circuit caused a fire to break out in a shamiana (decorated tent). Harish Chandra Mehra, a 14 - year - old scout, promptly took out his knife and ripped open the burning tent, saving the lives of hundreds of trapped people . This incident inspired Nehru to ask the authorities to establish an award to honour brave children from all over the country . The first official National Bravery Awards were presented to Harish Chandra and one other child on 4 February 1958, by Prime Minister Nehru, and the ICCW (Indian Council for Child Welfare) has continued the tradition ever since . The Sanjay Chopra Award and the Geeta Chopra Award were established in 1978, in memory of two Chopra children who lost their lives while confronting their kidnappers . The Sanjay and Geeta awards are given to a boy and a girl for acts of bravery . The Bharat Award was established in 1987, and the Bapu Gaidhani Award was established in 1988 . </P> <P> In 2001, Scholastic published a commemorative book featuring the winners of the 1999 National Bravery Awards . The book was entitled Brave Hearts . </P>

When was the first national bravery award given