10 districts receive PM’s Award; Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP, Punjab, Karnataka etc. draw a blank

Cab Sec PK Sinha, Addl Principal Secy to PM PK Mishra at the release

BIG Indian states, many of which are often considered progressive, have failed to make a mark in Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Implementation of Priority Programmes, presented by Prime Minister as a part of 10th Civil Services Day on Thursday. None of the districts from states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab or Karnataka could figure in the award list. In fact, out of the 10 districts which were presented this coveted PM’s Awards, two are from…

Northeast (Nagaon in Assam and West Sikkim district of Sikkim), one from Jammu and Kashmir (Anantnag), two are union territories, Chandigarh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and one each from Himachal Pradesh (Hamirpur district), Andhra Pradesh (Ananthapuramu district), West Bengal (North 24 Parganas district) and Chhattisgarh (Balrampur district).

These districts were selected for their exemplary work in the areas such as Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Swach Bharat Mission (Gramin), Swach Vidyalaya and Soil Health Card Scheme. 

In fact, details of the work done in those awarded districts were put together in a booklet format titled Citation Booklet. Three other books that were also released on the occasion of 10th Civil Services Day function were The Change Makers (containing the voices of the beneficiaries of the priority programmes), Recreating Excellence (containing replication of the earlier award-winning initiatives) and Transforming India (containing the presentation by NITI Aayog and the presentations made by the eight Groups of Secretaries before Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues, for ready reference).