New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS): The Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry on Wednesday said that it has shortlisted 26 children for the national award this year for their exceptional achievement in the fields of innovation, sports, arts, social service, or any other area deserving recognition.

"The WCD Ministry has shortlisted 26 awardees, including one joint award for the National Child Award (now renamed as Bal Shakti Puraskar), under the category of innovation, scholastic, sports, art and culture, social service and bravery," it said in a statement.

In the past, the National Bravery Awards were organised by an NGO named Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW), according to an official statement.

According to the ministry, the financial integrity of the ICCW was recently questioned by the Delhi High Court during the hearings of a writ petition.

The government then dissociated itself from the ICCW and revamped the scheme of the National Awards for children last year to include bravery as an additional component in the Pradhan Mantri National Children Awards, the statement said.

Under the present format, awards will be given in two categories of Bal Shakti Puruskar to individuals and Bal Kalyan Puraskar for institutions or individuals working for children.

A total of 783 applications were received for the Baal Shakti Puruskar this year. The National Selection Committee also finalised the names of two individuals and three institutions under the National Child Welfare Awards category.