DU student wins Young Achievers prize

New Delhi: A Delhi University (DU) student who has filed over 100 RTIs since his schooling days has bagged an international Young Achievers' Award for his information activism.

Himadrish Suwan was named for the Young Achievers' Award by the International Association of Educators for World Peace, which is affiliated to the United Nations' ECOSOC, UNICEF, UNESCO and UNCED.

17-year-old Suwan, a political science student at DU's Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, was nominated for the award last week, according to an official notification posted today on the DU website.

"International Association of Educators for World Peace, on the strong recommendation of the Confederation of Indian Universities, a national platform for all universities of India, has pleasure in endorsing and acknowledging the outstanding contribution of Suwan in the areas of media and information activism," read the citation for the award, which was conferred on the occasion of World Teachers' Day on Oct 5.

An active citizen journalist and blogger, Suwan told PTI, "I was always fascinated with the idea of being known as an RTI activist, but it's definitely a big motivation to be among the youngest awardees of the UN-affiliated body.

"I like to explore various aspects of RTI and experiment with the kind of information that can be sought through RTI (appeals). It's as interesting for me as playing 'Candy Crush' on facebook."

Suwan belongs to Ranchi. His father is a businessman and his mother a teacher.