Gorakhpur’s Shrikrishna Pandey ‘Azad’ selected for Prof Yashwantrao Kelkar Youth Award 2025

Shrikrishna Pandey “Azad”, president of the Smile Roti Bank Foundation in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh has been selected for the Professor Yashwantrao Kelkar Youth Award 2025. The award recognises the contribution of young social entrepreneurs in various fields such as social, educational, science and technology, and more.

The annual award, instituted in 1991, is jointly presented by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Vidyarthi Nidhi Trust. A cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a certificate, and a memento will be presented to Shrikrishna Pandey between November 28 and 30 during the 71st National Conference of ABVP, to be held in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

Pandey will be conferred the award for carrying out remarkable work to bring about social change through various initiatives such as preventing child begging, rehabilitating and serving destitute persons suffering from mental illness.

He has also actively contributed to counselling inmates in different prisons for emotional development and helping them leave criminal tendencies to rejoin the mainstream of society, and has undertaken efforts to curb substance abuse.

Also read National Teachers’ Awards 2025 see 5 from PM SHRI schools among 45 recipients

Moreover, Pandey has reportedly helped over 2,000 destitute individuals in Gorakhpur and nearby districts through sustained outreach, medical assistance and rehabilitation. He has also encouraged many young people to participate in cleanliness and environmental protection activities, training them and engaging them in various positive and transformative initiatives.

He also runs two rehabilitation centres to support his initiative to curb child begging and child labour, and organised regular awareness programmes in public spaces. Several ABVP members congratulated Pandey on being selected for the Professor Yeshwantrao Kelkar Youth Award 2025.