Jammu & Kashmir’s Anantnag and West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas districts, besides Chandigarh, were on Thursday presented awards by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for excellence in implementing the NDA Government’s priority initiatives like Swachchh Bharat Mission.
Nagaon in Assam, Bikaner in Rajasthan, West Sikkim district, Ananthapuramu in Andhra Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Balrampur in Chhattisgarh and Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh also received the awards.
Anantnag administration has been awarded under ‘Swachchh Vidyalaya’ category for ‘North-East and Hill States’ for constructing toilets — separately for boys and girls — in over 1,500 schools of the district. Anantnag is 57 km south of Srinagar. There are 1,555 Government schools — 45 Higher Secondary, 124 High schools, 695 middle and 691 primary schools — in the district catering to a large number of marginalised and poor people living in the Anantnag area.
The awards were divided into four categories — Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Swachchh Bharat Mission (Grameen), Swachchh Vidyalaya and Soil health Card schemes.
West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district received the award for effective implementation of PMJDY scheme in “Other States” category. Nagaon, Assam and Chandigarh were conferred the PM’s award for excellence in implementing PMJDY.
Rajasthan’s Bikaner and Sikkim’s West Sikkim districts received Swachchh Bharat Mission (Grameen) awards. The Swachchh Vidyalaya awards were also bestowed to Andhra Pradesh’s Ananthapuramu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli administration for their efforts in construction of toilets.
Chhattisgarh’s Balrampur and Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur were adjudged best districts for implementing Soil health Card scheme.
The Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in implementation of priority programmes were given away for the first time on the occasion of Civil Services Day.