New Delhi: The Government of India on Panchayati Raj Day, honours the best performing Panchayati Raj Institutions of the country with the National Awards. However this year, the function could not be held by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj on the occasion of Panchayati Raj Day on April 24 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The Union Rural Development Department today organised a video conference session to honour the National Award-winning Panchayati Raj Institutions of the country.
Addressing the award winners through video conference, the Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar congratulated the representatives of the award-winning Panchayati Raj Institutions and encouraged them to take maximum advantage of the national schemes and make more efforts for the betterment of the villages.
The Union Minister said that the competition for Panchayati Raj National Award is very tough every year; to achieve these awards Panchayati Raj institutes have to meet the criteria set by the department. He said that this year 55,000 Panchayati Raj Institutions participated in various categories of awards and a total of 306 national awards were given.
Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats Punjab has also congratulated the award winners of the state and said that the Panchayati Raj Institutions of the state have been continuously performing very well in the various categories of the national award. He said that Punjab was one of the leading states in the country which had given 50 per cent representation to women in Panchayati Raj Institutions. He also said that educated youth were coming forward to lead the villages in the state, due to which now the village panchayats were taking maximum advantage of central and state schemes to provide better services to the villagers.
This year 13 Panchayati Raj Institutions of the state have been awarded the National Awards, which includes under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay award Panchayat Sastikaran Award to a Zila Parishad, two Block Samitis and 7 Gram Panchayats, under Nana Ji's Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Award to one Gram Panchayat, under Gram Panchayat Vikas Yojana (GPDP) Award to one Gram Panchayat and under the Child-Friendly Gram Panchayat Award to one Gram Panchayat.
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