Bhubaneswar, Sept. 11: Two tribal students of Kalinga Institute of Social Science (KISS) in Bhubaneswar have been selected as Ashoka Youth Venturers by Ashoka Foundation. Shanti Murmu and Dharamananda Bhoi are among the 17 young social innovators from across the country in the 12-20 year age group.

Murmu, an 18-year-old girl, has started a drive called "Parivartan" in her native village Indakhali in Mayurbhanj to empower the girls of her community. She took the help of Accredited Social Health Activists (Asha) and members of various women's self-help groups to address the issues of adolescent girls of her community.

"Girls of our community have been facing problems, such as lack of access to education, forced early marriage and misconceptions about menstruation leading to infections. Ever since I started the initiative, parents started sending their daughters to school instead of arranging their marriages," said Murmu, a Plus Three second-year science student of KISS.

Bhoi, a native of Balangir, started a drive called "Unnati" to promote sports in rural areas of the district. "Sports can have tremendous impact on physical, psychological and social health of the rural youth. As an international-level rugby player, I worked with the youth clubs and we restored sports grounds in our locality and other places in the district as well," said 19-year-old Bhoi.

"The youth innovators will learn about micro and macro aspects of running their venture through interactions with veteran social entrepreneurs," said Yashveer Singh, director, youth ventures, Ashoka Foundation (South Asia).