At the recently concluded EducationWorld India School Rankings Awards event, 15-year-old Sanjana Chauhan, a student of Amity International School, was honoured with the Youth Leadership Award for her exceptional contribution to grassroots education and rural leadership development.

Sanjana’s award-winning initiative, SARAL (Sarpanch Advanced Resourceful Active Learning), is a pioneering leadership and governance training programme designed to strengthen rural democracy in India. Conceived and executed by Sanjana, SARAL’s mission is simple yet transformative — to empower Sarpanches, the elected village heads, with the skills, tools and confidence to lead their communities effectively.

Recognising that many village leaders lack access to structured training in administration, finance, technology and governance, Sanjana created a comprehensive, bilingual curriculum tailored to local realities. The SARAL programme is built around four key modules — financial literacy and resource allocation, governance frameworks and policy design, digital management and e-governance tools, and community leadership and participatory planning.

Beyond curriculum design, Sanjana demonstrated remarkable initiative by forging partnerships with government bodies and district administrations to pilot her modules on the ground. Her inclusive, bilingual approach ensures accessibility across India’s diverse rural landscape, reflecting her deep empathy and foresight as a young changemaker.

Her teachers at Amity International School describe her as a student whose “love for teaching and problem-solving” has consistently translated into action. Earlier, when she discovered that many of her underprivileged students struggled to see the blackboard due to untreated eyesight issues, she founded a volunteer eye care network that has since helped tens of thousands of children access vision care. It was this experience — witnessing how gaps in local governance affected basic services — that inspired her to design SARAL.

Upon receiving the award, Sanjana remarked, “True leadership isn’t about leading from the top — it’s about strengthening those at the grassroots.” Her long-term vision is to create scalable institutions that empower not only India’s underserved youth but also the leaders who shape their future.

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