Krish Aggarwal Diana Award 2026: Delhi student's fan filter reaches 10,000

Krish Aggarwal, a student of Sanskriti School in New Delhi, has received the Diana Award 2026 for Project Vayu, a low-cost filter that fits onto ordinary fans and turns them into air purifiers for classrooms. The Diana Award's official Roll of Honour 2026 says the project has distributed filters across underprivileged schools in Delhi, benefiting more than 10,000 students. His win was reported on Wednesday, 11 November 2026. Other Indian names on this year's roll include Aanya Singh of Bengaluru, Adarsh Kumar and Advika Kasliwal, each recognised for a youth-led social project.

Delhi's air pollution is worst in the months after the monsoon, when schools are in full session. Children breathe faster than adults and spend much of the day in classrooms, many of which have open windows and ceiling or wall fans but no air purifiers. Commercial purifiers are expensive to buy and to run for a whole classroom, which puts them out of reach for most government and low-fee schools.

Project Vayu's idea is to use what a classroom already has. A fan already moves air around the room; adding a filter to it means some of that air passes through the filter and leaves cleaner. The project's makers describe it as a practical alternative for communities that cannot afford dedicated air-cleaning systems. The award recognises the project's reach and social impact; it is not a scientific test of how much the filters reduce pollution, and no such measurements are given in the award listing.

For young readers, the story is an example of how a school project can grow into a social enterprise. The Diana Award, named after Diana, Princess of Wales, recognises young people for social action rather than for exam results, and winning it often brings mentoring, a network of other young changemakers and visibility that helps projects find partners and funding. The Indian winners this year cover very different problems: air quality, elderly care, skills and nutrition, which shows the range of issues students are taking on.

What students can take from it: start from a problem you see every day, test a cheap fix, measure who it helps, and keep records. Award bodies, incubators and scholarship committees all look for evidence of reach, such as the 10,000 students Project Vayu reports.

Peepals calculation: The four Indian projects named here report reaching more than 10,000 students (Project Vayu), more than 20,000 students (Skillzo) and more than 5,000 people with 800 low-income families (Planting Hopes). If the reported 198 recipients came from 44 countries, that is an average of about 4.5 winners per country (198 ÷ 44 = 4.5). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: The award gives Project Vayu wider attention as Delhi schools face the winter pollution season.

Long-term: Recognition can help student projects like Project Vayu find partners, funding and schools willing to adopt them, if their results hold up.

Who is affected: Students in Delhi's underprivileged schools, the young award winners, and schools looking for affordable ways to improve classroom air.

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