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AI rehabilitation technology · INDIA

Arnav Anupriya Maharshi

Aurangabad innovator, 17, who after a 2022 road accident left him paralysed on his right side and two years of physiotherapy, built a patented wrist-worn gross-motor rehabilitation device and FAIR Chance, an AI hand/finger-rehab app for phones and laptops aimed at rural and low-income patients; PMRBP 2025, Science and Technology. Techfest IIT Bombay 2024 and Harvard Venture TECH Summer 2025 details are single-report and attributed.

Aged 17 at the award (December 2025)

Maharashtra · India

Arnav Anupriya Maharshi receiving the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar citation from President Droupadi Murmu
President Droupadi Murmu presenting the Bal Puraskar citation to Arnav Anupriya Maharshi, 26 December 2025
Image source ↗ · Maharashtra Dinman
Source photograph · credit and provenance below

BEHIND THE RESULT

The award

Arnav Anupriya Maharshi of Aurangabad, Maharashtra, received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2025 in the Science and Technology category, conferred by the President of India on Veer Bal Diwas, 26 December 2025. He was 17 years old at the time. The official citation describes him as a young divyang innovator who turned personal challenges into purpose by developing an AI-based rehabilitation tool for hand paralysis.

From patient to inventor

In 2022, Arnav survived a near-fatal road accident that left him paralysed on his dominant right side. Two years of physiotherapy followed. The experience became the brief for his inventions, aimed at patients in rural and low-income settings who cannot easily reach or afford regular therapy. He built a patented, copyrighted wrist-worn device that supports gross-motor rehabilitation — the larger movements needed for everyday activities. Alongside it he developed FAIR Chance, an AI-powered application for finger and hand rehabilitation that runs on an ordinary smartphone or laptop, gives real-time, data-driven feedback, tracks movements and reinforces exercises between physiotherapy sessions. It is designed to supplement physiotherapists, not replace them.

A spark to explore

FAIR Chance was reported to have won an International Innovation Award at IIT Bombay’s Techfest 2024, and the wrist device a place, with a global scholarship, on the Harvard Venture TECH Summer Program 2025. A Class XI student at the Jain International School in Aurangabad, Arnav aims to ensure no patient is left behind in recovery for want of resources. When a tool is designed by someone who has needed it themselves, what changes about the design? That is a question from us, not part of his record.

Source-based story · the activities are prompts for readers.

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The achievement, in context.

Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2025 — Science and Technology

Aurangabad innovator, 17, who after a 2022 road accident left him paralysed on his right side and two years of physiotherapy, built a patented wrist-worn gross-motor rehabilitation device and FAIR Chance, an AI hand/finger-rehab app for phones and laptops aimed at rural and low-income patients; PMRBP 2025, Science and Technology. Techfest IIT Bombay 2024 and Harvard Venture TECH Summer 2025 details are single-report and attributed.

2025-12-26 · Supporting source ↗

Sources you can explore.

PIB · PMRBP-2025 awardee list (official), 26 December 2025 ↗Official award list

The Times of India · 27 December 2025 ↗National press report

Original source ↗

Another spark to discover.

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Haryana · India

Pranet Khetan

Built Paraspeak, an AI device that converts dysarthric speech into clear speech, including Hindi, creating a custom Hindi dysarthric-speech dataset; one of four national winners of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2025 and first prize at the YUVAi Global Youth Challenge 2026.

16 when reported in November 2025

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Life and More ↗Source photograph · see credit