“RAKSHAK PURASKARS’’ Award

What is the Rakshak Puraskars Award?

The Rakshak Puraskars Award is a state honour instituted by the Directorate of Women and Child Development, Government of Goa. It has been conferred from the year 2015 onwards and is presented every year on Independence Day, 15 August.

The award recognises individuals who have shown exceptional courage, especially in adverse circumstances, in coming to the aid of, protecting or helping beyond the call of duty, and in assisting in dealing with the victims of any type of violence, attack or harassment against women and girls; at home, in the workplace and everywhere in the public domain, and who have shown respect and dignity to women in society within the State of Goa.

The stated purpose goes beyond honouring the two recipients. The Directorate frames the Rakshak Puraskars Award as a way of spreading a message: to encourage and motivate everyone in Goa to bestow respect and dignity on women in society.

Two awards are conferred every year. Each recipient receives a scroll or citation and a cash prize of Rs 20,000.

Who is eligible for the Rakshak Puraskars Award?

A person can be considered if:

• The individual has shown exceptional courage, especially in adverse circumstances or otherwise, in coming to the aid of, protecting or helping beyond the call of duty the victims of, or in dealing with the victims of, any type of violence, attack or harassment against women and girls at home, in the workplace and everywhere in the public domain, and has shown respect and dignity to women in society in the State of Goa.
• The individual is above 25 years of age as of 1 January of the respective year.
• The individual has been a resident of Goa for the last five years as of 1 January of the respective year, or has worked in the state for at least two years.
• The individual is not a recipient of any other award in the same field during the same year.

The award is deliberately open across occupations. The guidelines name police officers, doctors, lawyers, public prosecutors, social workers, teachers, tourist guides, lifeguards, and bus, taxi and auto drivers as examples — the point being that the act of courage matters, not the uniform the person was wearing.

A person is not eligible if:

• The individual is 25 years of age or younger as of 1 January of the relevant year.
• The individual has neither five years' residence in Goa nor two years' work in the state.
• The individual has already received another award in the same field in the same year, which is a stated bar against double recognition.
• The nomination is of an organisation rather than an individual. The award is framed around a person who acted, not around an institution.

What documents are required?

Two of these are easy to overlook. The photograph must be attested by a Gazetted Officer, not merely self-attested. And the Directorate asks for a soft copy of the application on a CD in Word format in addition to the hard copy, which is an unusual requirement and one that has to be prepared in advance.

The press clippings, certificates and photographs are formally optional, but they are the practical evidence of the act of courage. An application that asserts a rescue or an intervention without any contemporaneous record is much harder for a selection committee to weigh than one accompanied by a newspaper report, a police record or a letter of appreciation.

How to apply for the Rakshak Puraskars Award

1. Obtain the prescribed format of the application form and the Annexure-A proforma for the brief life sketch from the Directorate of Women and Child Development.
2. Fill in all mandatory fields of the application form and paste the passport-size photograph, signed across and duly attested by a Gazetted Officer.
3. Write the brief life sketch in the Annexure-A format, covering age, qualification and the account of the act of courage.
4. Prepare the soft copy of the application on a CD in Word (.doc or .docx) format, and assemble the residential certificate, identity proof, bank details and any press clippings or certificates.
5. Visit the Office of the Directorate of Women and Child Development, Old Education Building, 2nd Floor, 18th June Road, Panaji, Goa 403001, and submit the duly filled and signed form with the copies of the required documents to the concerned officer.
6. Acquire the receipt or acknowledgement of the successful submission of the application, and keep it until the awards are announced.

When is the last date?

The award is presented on 15 August each year, so the application window opens and closes ahead of that date. The exact last date is announced by the Directorate for each year rather than being fixed permanently in the scheme, and prospective applicants should confirm the current year's date on 0832-2235308 or 0832-2426112 before assembling the papers. Do not treat 15 August as the application deadline, it is the presentation date, and applications close well before it.

How the Rs 20,000 prize is paid

The cash prize of Rs 20,000 is paid to the recipient, and this is why the application asks for the bank account number, name of the bank, branch and IFSC code as a mandatory item rather than an optional one. An account in the applicant's own name, with details matching the identity proof, avoids a delay in release after the 15 August ceremony.

Common reasons an application does not succeed

• Age below the bar. The individual must be above 25 as of 1 January of the respective year, and the life sketch makes the date of birth plain.
• Residence not established. Where the applicant has lived in Goa for fewer than five years, the alternative of two years' work in the state has to be evidenced, not merely stated.
• Photograph not attested by a Gazetted Officer, which is a specific requirement of this award.
• No CD with the soft copy, leaving the submission incomplete.
• Another award in the same field in the same year, which is an express disqualification.
• No supporting record of the act. With only two awards a year, an unevidenced account competes poorly.

Help and contact

• Directorate of Women and Child Development, Old Education Building, 2nd Floor, 18th June Road, Panaji, Goa 403001
• Helpdesk phone: 0832-2235308 and 0832-2426112, during office hours

No application fee is charged for the Rakshak Puraskars Award, and no agent is authorised to file a nomination on payment. Applications are received only at the Directorate on the prescribed format.

How to check your Rakshak Puraskars Award application status

The Rakshak Puraskars Award has no online portal for tracking a nomination, since the application itself is submitted only on paper at the Directorate of Women and Child Development in Panaji. Status checking therefore works through the same offline channel, not through a website login or an SMS system.

1. Keep the acknowledgement or receipt given at the time of submission. This is the only proof that the Directorate actually received the nomination, and it is what the office will ask for if the applicant later calls to ask about progress.
2. Call the Directorate's helpdesk on 0832-2235308 or 0832-2426112 during office hours, quote the applicant's name, the year of nomination and the date of submission from the acknowledgement, and ask whether the file has moved to the selection committee.
3. Visit the office in person, at Old Education Building, 2nd Floor, 18th June Road, Panaji, Goa 403001, if a phone call does not get a clear answer. Since only two awards are conferred a year and the volume of nominations is small, the office can usually locate a specific file quickly when asked in person.
4. Watch for the announcement around 15 August. Because the award is conferred on Independence Day each year, the practical way most applicants learn the outcome is the public announcement and ceremony on that date, rather than an individual status update issued earlier. An applicant who is not contacted for the ceremony has not been selected for that year, though the Directorate does not always send a separate rejection notice.
5. Ask about the following year if the current year's window has closed without a response. Nominations that arrive after the cut-off, or that are found incomplete, are not usually carried forward automatically, so a fresh application with the missing document (commonly the Gazetted Officer attestation or the CD copy) is the way to be considered again.

Since the process is entirely manual, persistence with the helpdesk and keeping the acknowledgement slip safe are the only real tools an applicant has for tracking a submitted nomination.