Maharashtra Secures Second Place in National Panchayat Awards with Six Prestigious Honors

Best Gram Panchayat and Gram Urja Swaraj Special Awards: Manyachiwadi Panchayat Tops; Bela Panchayat First in Carbon Neutral Category

New Delhi, Dec. 11: Maharashtra has achieved second place in the National Panchayat Awards 2024 by securing six national awards. Odisha and Tripura jointly claimed the first position with seven awards each, while Andhra Pradesh stood third with four awards. Bihar and Himachal Pradesh won three awards each across various categories.

The National Panchayat Awards, organized by the Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, aim to recognize and encourage panchayat efforts in areas such as poverty eradication, health, child welfare, water conservation, sanitation, infrastructure, social justice, governance, and women empowerment.

The ceremony, held at Vigyan Bhavan, saw President Droupadi Murmu presenting 45 awards across multiple categories. Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan Singh), Minister of State Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel, Secretary Vivek Bhardwaj, and other senior officials attended the event.

President Murmu, while addressing the gathering, expressed hope that these awards would inspire other panchayats to adopt best practices and contribute to the holistic development of rural India.

Under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar category, a total of 27 awards were presented. Nashik district’s Modale Gram Panchayat secured third place in the “Clean and Green Panchayat” category, with representatives accepting the award.

Satara district’s Manyachiwadi Gram Panchayat received two first-place awards: one for Best Gram Panchayat under the Nanaji Deshmukh Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar, and another under the Gram Urja Swaraj Special Award category. Representatives accepted these accolades, marking exceptional achievement in sustainable development.

In the Best Block Panchayat category of the Nanaji Deshmukh awards, Tiroda Panchayat Samiti from Gondia district secured third place. In the Carbon Neutral Special Award category, Bela Gram Panchayat from Bhandara district achieved first place. Pune’s Yashada Academy also secured third place in the Best Institute for Panchayat Capacity Building category.

Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh digitally transferred the prize amounts to the winners: ₹50 lakh to Modale Gram Panchayat, ₹2.5 crore (₹1.5 crore for sustainable development and ₹1 crore under the energy category) to Manyachiwadi, ₹1.5 crore to Tiroda Panchayat Samiti, ₹1 crore to Bela Gram Panchayat, and ₹50 lakh to Yashada Academy.

The event also included the unveiling of a booklet titled “Award-Winning Panchayat Work: Best Practices” by the Union Minister. The first copy was presented to the President, followed by a documentary highlighting exemplary work by select panchayats.

The awards recognized outstanding contributions under categories such as Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar, Nanaji Deshmukh Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar, Gram Urja Swaraj Special Panchayat Award, Carbon Neutral Special Panchayat Award, and Best Institute for Panchayat Capacity Building Award.