Veer Kashyap received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2021 for excellence in the field of innovation.  This 10 year old is a student of Navy Children School, Kochi and built a board game during the lockdown induced by COVID-19 pandemic in Bengaluru. With the aim of educating and creating awareness about the coronavirus and the ensuing situation prevailing in the world, Veer created this board game. He named the board game ‘Corona Yuga’ by designing the infamous coronavirus shape on cardboard, using materials available at home.

Veer’s game went viral after he posted a video of the same on YouTube. Corona Yuga, the game dedicated to COVID-19 warriors, is aimed at teaching safety guidelines to survive the pandemic by adopting behavioural changes. The game reflects the quarantine period, the importance of using hand sanitiser, social distancing, wearing masks etc.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, lauding Kashyap for his innovation, had tweeted, “An important message, said in a unique style. Veer Kashyap from Bengaluru created a game that seeks to keep people home and spread awareness about COVID-19. Happy that he has been conferred the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2021.”