NEW DELHI : Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag and West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas districts, besides Chandigarh, were today presented awards by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for excellence in implementing the NDA government’s priority initiatives like Swachh Bharat Mission.
Nagaon in Assam, Bikaner in Rajasthan, West Sikkim district, Ananthapuramu in Andhra Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Balrampur in Chhattisgarh and Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh also received the awards.
Anantnag administration has been awarded under ‘Swachh Vidyalaya’ category for ‘North East and Hill States’ for constructing toilets– separately for boys and girls– in over 1,500 schools of the district.
“It was a massive exercise to construct large number of toilets there. We overcome this through community mobilisation. We also got done a social audit, on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, to ensure quality is not compromised,” said Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, who received the award from Modi at a function here.
He said the construction of toilets has resulted in increase in attendance and checked drop outs rate of students. “The attendance of students has gone up and there is a feeling of belongingness in the community,” Shah said.
There are 1,555 government schools– 45 higher secondary, 124 high school, 695 at the middle and 691 at primary levels– which catered to large number of marginalised and poor people living in the area.
“It is because of previous Deputy Commissioners and hard work of all staff of education department,” said Shah, Deputy Commissioner of Anantnag.
This is the first time that ‘Prime Minister’s Awards for excellence in implementation of priority programmes’ have been given on the civil services day. The awards were divided into four categories–Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), Swachh Vidyalaya and Soil health Card schemes.
West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas has been given the award for effective implementation of PMJDY scheme in ‘Other States’ category. Nagaon in Assam and Chandigarh have also been awarded the PM’s award for excellence in implementing PMJDY.
Bikaner in Rajasthan and Sikkim’s West Sikkim districts have been given Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) awards.
The Swachh Vidyalaya awards were also given to Andhra Pradesh’s Ananthapuramu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli administration for their efforts in construction of toilets.
Chhattisgarh’s Balrampur and Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur have been adjudged best districts for implementing Soil Health Card scheme.
These awards were given on the occasion of Civil Services Day function here. (AGENCIES)
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