One of the most backward districts of the KBK region, Koraput, was on Monday awarded by the Union Government for successfully implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) under challenging circumstances.
Outgoing district Collector Sachin Rama Chandra Jadhav received this National award for “leadership in challenging circumstances” under the scheme “District award for effective Initiatives under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA)”, a flagship programme of the Union Government.
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh presented the award at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. Newly-posted Koraput Collector Yamini Sarangi also shared the platform with Jadhav. Koraput District was included in the list of nine districts across the country to get such awards for excellence in MGNREGS work.
Koraput district was selected for the award following a recommendation from the Expert Committee constituted by Union Rural Development Ministry for the purpose.
Notably, the district administration had initially faced a lot of difficulties while implementing the scheme in the backward and tribals-dominated district. The scheme is being implemented successfully despite challenging circumstances faced by the implementing agencies, officials said here.
The other States which received the award included Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Tripura.