By IANS
New Delhi : President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Friday presented the National Gram Puraskar (National Village Awards) to 4,437 villages from 22 states for becoming "open defecation free".
The awards were instituted by the government in recognition of the efforts made by panchyati raj (village council) institutions and individual organisations in 2005 towards achieving the sanitation level. Kalam also administered an eight-point oath to the winners.
The president has been presenting the awards for the last three years.
The winners have risen from 40 in 2005 to 769 in 2006, and in the current year it touched over 4,000.
As part of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), these awards were announced on Oct 2, 2003, as a national award instituted to encourage Panchayati Raj Institutions, which have attained total sanitation in their respective area.
The total outlay for the campaign in the 572 districts is Rs.113.75 billion with central, state and community contribution being Rs.70.92 billion, Rs.25.05 billion and Rs.17.78 billion respectively, according to an official release.