Young Noida-based social activist-entrepreneur Satyam Mehta (16) was among 200 global citizens conferred the prestigious Diana Award 2021 on July 1, at a specially organised online felicitation ceremony. The Diana Award was initiated by the British government in 1999 in memory of Princess Diana of Wales (1961-1997) to acknowledge outstanding young leaders worldwide for initiating and sustaining positive social change in their communities. Winning this award is a precondition of qualifying for the next grade Diana Legacy Award.

In early 2018, Satyam and his cousins Madhav and Shivangi Sharma launched JunkGuards, a public interest drive to propagate and promote effective e-waste disposal. “JunkGuards collaborates with Residents Welfare Associations in Noida to install e-waste bins. Till date, we have collected 700 kg of e-waste and sent it for scientific disposal,” says Satyam, who is also an active member of his school’s pravahkriti (flow pattern) campaign, started in October 2018 to counter irrational social prejudices about women’s menstrual hygiene and health.

Yet another initiative co-founded last year by this socially committed idealist is Rural Invest, a start-up to address the financial illiteracy of rural folk. “We started educating housemaids and chauffeurs in our neighbourhood and helped them to invest their savings in mutual funds through an easy-to-use Rural Invest app designed by us,” he adds.

The younger of two siblings of Rajiv Mehta, an investment banker, and businesswoman Shifali, Satyam is currently a class XII student of Amity International School, Noida. “I am delighted that JunkGuards, Rural Invest and pravahkriti campaigns have been acknowledged nationally and abroad,” says Satyam, the recipient of several other awards (NYS Leadership League 2018, The Young Entrepreneurs 2019, Foundation for Young Innovators 2019, and Amity Youth Power 2018-19).

Currently preparing for his CBSE class XII board exams, Satyam is exploring higher education options abroad. “My dream is to enrol in an engineering degree programme after my Plus Two. But I intend to continue my social activism in India and overseas,” says this exemplary young idealist. 

Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru) 

Also read: Namya Joshi, student of Sat Paul Mittal School wins Diana Award 2021