By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
Srinagar: The district of Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir was awarded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 20 April, Wednesday, for excellence in implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission.
Anantnag administration has been awarded under ‘Swachh Vidyalaya’ category for ‘North East and Hill States’ for constructing separate toilets for boys and girls in over 1,500 schools of the district.
Nagaon in Assam, Bikaner in Rajasthan, West Sikkim district, Ananthapuramu in Andhra Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Balrampur in Chhattisgarh and Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh also received awards.
“It was a massive exercise to construct large number of toilets there. We overcome this through community mobilisation. We also got done a social audit on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to ensure quality is not compromised,” said Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anantnag, who received the award from Modi.
He said the construction of toilets has resulted in increase in attendance and helped put a check on the drop outs rates. “The attendance of students has gone up and there is a feeling of belonging in the community,” Shah said.
There are 1,555 government schools– 45 higher secondary, 124 high schools, and 695 at the middle and 691 at primary levels– which cater to large number of marginalised and poor people living in the area.
“It is because of the works of the previous Deputy Commissioner and the hard work of all staff of education department,” added Shah.
This is the first time that ‘Prime Minister’s Awards for excellence in implementation of priority programmes’ have been given on the civil services day. The awards were divided into four categories: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), Swachh Vidyalaya and Soil health Card schemes.
West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas has been given the award for effective implementation of PMJDY scheme in ‘Other States’ category. Nagaon in Assam and Chandigarh have also been awarded the PM’s award for excellence in implementing PMJDY.
Bikaner in Rajasthan and Sikkim’s West Sikkim district were given Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) awards.
The Swachh Vidyalaya awards were also given to Andhra Pradesh’s Ananthapuramu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli administration for their efforts in construction of toilets.
Chhattisgarh’s Balrampur and Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur have been adjudged best districts for implementing Soil Health Card scheme.
These awards were given on the occasion of Civil Services Day function held in New Delhi.