Thank you to all who participated!
We were inspired to receive so many insightful and well researched essays, covering topics as diverse as health care, the rabies epidemic, food waste and shortages, the critical issues facing farmers, the educational divide, poverty, and more. It was difficult for the judges to narrow it down to just a few, and they extend their appreciation to all who contributed.
Competition Winners
Aneesh Gupta, India’s Invisible Children and the Fight for Recognition
High School Winner, Grade 11,, Carmel, Indiana
“Making sure that a child's birth is registered might not seem like a big deal, but it is actually one of the most transformative acts that you can do to ensure a child's future. Identity is more than just paperwork; it's access, safety, and a sense of dignity as well. One of the reasons I wrote my essay was as a call to action to make sure that every child is counted, because every child counts.”
Aneesh will be gifting his $1,000 award to CRY America. Read his essay here.
Eesha Kondapalli, A Cry in Hyderabad: India’s Rabies Epidemic
Middle School Winner, Grade 7, Cary, North Carolina
I entered IPA’s Youth Essay Competition because of my deep passion for writing. Writing has always been my way of expression - especially on issues I care about. When most people think of pressing developmental issues in India, issues such as poverty and illiteracy come to mind. Although those issues are very important, not every single Indian has faced them. With India's stray dog population of nearly 60 million dogs and the associated Rabies problem, it's impossible not to be affected by them, no matter where in India you are.
Eesha will be gifting her $1,000 award to Stray Animal Foundation of India. Read her essay here.
Competition Runners-Up
Aneesh Agarwal,, India’s Overlooked Literacy Crisis
High School Runner-Up, Grade 10, Portland, Oregon
“The most striking thing I found when doing my research was how important English proficiency is in the corporate world. For example, only 7% of Indian Engineering graduates are employable in global jobs due to a lack of English proficiency. That is a huge economic shortfall for India. As a community, we should work on this so that people can find jobs outside of India and India’s cultural heritage can spread beyond India’s borders.”
Aneesh will be gifting his $500 award to AID India. Read his essay here.
Swasti Timande, India’s Hidden Food Security Challenge
Middle School Runner-Up, Grade 6, Columbus, Indiana
“Last year, when I went to India and my parents took me to the market, my jaw dropped when I saw huge piles of vegetables and fruits rotting! From watching the news with my parents, I knew that in the monsoon, lots of produce was wasted from a lack of storage. Seeing usable produce wasted was something I’ll never forget, especially since it affected 190 million undernourished Indians.”
Swasti will be gifting her $500 award to Save Indian Farmers. Read her essay here.
Competition Finalists
Vishnu Teja Donadula, The Sad Plight of the Indian Farmer
High School Finalist, Grade 10, Plano, Texas
“Indian farmers are the backbone of the nation and deserve more for their tireless work in helping feed the world's most populous country. They sow seeds yet reap injustice for their harvests. It is crucial that we address this developmental problem by guaranteeing farmers a price for their produce and ending the exploitation of them before it starts to significantly affect the food security of the nation."
Read Vishnu’s essay here.
Maanav Chittireddy, Water’s Power to Sustain and Destroy India
High School Finalist, Grade 11, Edison, New Jersey
“As someone whose family has been extremely affected by waterborne pathogens, I thought this essay contest would be a great way to get my story out there and to really publicize the importance of waterborne pathogens. Specifically, when we used to live in India, we lived in an area that flooded a lot, and that water wound up infecting my brother with a fatal disease.”
Read Maanav’s essay here.
Sahana Srikanth, Female Literacy Is India’s Emergency
High School Finalist, Grade 12, Mason, Ohio
“When a girl is denied the ability to read and write, it isn’t just her future that suffers—it’s also the well-being of her community. Female illiteracy is India’s most pressing developmental issue because it has dangerous, detrimental consequences on both the nation and its people.”
Read Sahana’s essay here.
Ira Ahirrao, Plowing Down Farmer Suicide
High School Finalist, Grade 9, Ellicott City, Maryland
“Last summer, I attended a convention where I visited a booth of a non-profit organization that works with children who were orphaned from farmer suicide. When I was thinking about topics for the Youth Essay Competition, I found the card I got at the booth last summer. I started to look more into farmer suicide and learned it's a much bigger problem than people would think.”
Read Ira’s essay here.
Meha Seshan, Bridging the Education Divide in India
Middle School Finalist, Grade 7, Ashburn, Virginia
“In my view, the most pressing issue in India today is the lack of access to quality education, particularly for children in rural and underprivileged communities. Education is the foundation of progress—it empowers individuals, strengthens economies, reduces inequality, and fosters innovation. Yet millions of Indian children are still denied this basic right.”
Read Meha’s essay here.
Aarav Gupta, The Neglected Public Conveniences of India
Middle School Finalist, Grade 7, Aldie, Virginia
“While doing my research, I learned to be a little more humble and grateful for what I have access to in America because 140 million people, at least, in India don’t have access to clean water or public conveniences.”
Read Aarav’s essay here.
More on the Youth Essay Competition
The competition was launched in February 2020 as a vehicle to encourage philanthropic thought and action among middle and high school youth in the U.S. with ties to, or interest in, India. The competition has brought dedicated and talented youth together with leading philanthropic organizations in what we hope will be a lifelong commitment to advancing development and poverty reduction programs in India.
We are grateful to the competition’s sponsors Sarva Mangal Family Trust, Sehgal Foundation, and the Ujala Foundation. We also extend our thanks to Indiaspora for providing a terrific platform at for the winners to share their ideas.
To read the top essays from the 2024 competition, click here.
To read the top essays from the 2023 competition, click here.
To read the top essays from the 2022 competition, click here.
To read the top essays from the 2021 competition, click here.
To read the top essays from the 2020 competition, click here.
Watch for the announcement of our 7th Annual Essay Competition in the spring of 2026.
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