Prez confers national award on two HP panchayats

President Droupadi Murmu conferred three national panchayat awards on two gram panchayats from the state –Thanadhar gram panchayat in Shimla district and Sikander gram panchayat in Hamirpur district - in New Delhi today.

While Thanadhar won two awards – second prize in ‘Socially Just and Socially Secured Panchayat’ and third prize in Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar- Sikander gram panchayat walked away with second prize in ‘Water Sufficient Panchayat’. These two panchayats outperformed around 3,600 gram panchayats in the state and over 1.90 lakh panchayats across the country to win these prestigious awards. Thanadhar gram panchayat got Rs 1.25 crore for winning two awards, while Sikander gram panchayat will pocket Rs 75 lakh.

The Centre government gave these awards to the best performing panchayats in the nine themes based on localised Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Apart from finishing second in one of these nine themes, Thanadhar gram panchayat also won the Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar for securing the third spot in the ‘best gram panchayat’ category in the country. The award is given to the panchayats for best aggregate performance under all nine themes.

“We were hopeful of winning one or the other award under the nine SDG themes. But to be adjudged one of the top three panchayats in the country is a huge achievement for us,” said Sandeep Shroal, pradhan of Thanadhar gram panchayat. Incidentally, Thanadhar had been nominated in three different themes for the award. Thanadhar gram panchayat has done exemplary work particularly under the three themes of ‘Clean and Green Panchayat’, ‘Socially Just and Socially Secured Panchayat’ and ‘Panchayat with Good Governance’. It is one of the few panchayats having a solid waste treatment plant, a good gym and a library, and a four-room guest house. Also, it has an impressive digital presence for transparency and prompt dissemination of information.

The initiative of helping eligible individuals get old-age pension and supporting self help groups went a long way in the panchayat winning the second prize in the ‘Social Justice and Socially Secured’ category.

“I’m very happy for gram panchayats doing excellent work in achieving sustainable development goals. Awards and recognition will boost up gram panchayats to contribute more in the development of state,” said Neeraj Chandla, Joint Secretary, Panchayati Raj Department, who was present at the award function.