VIJAYAWADA: It was a field day for Andhra Pradesh, which bagged 10 awards announced by the Union Ministry of Rural Development on Saturday. The awards will be presented in New Delhi on September 11.
The State, which won the awards in nine categories, topped the country in ‘Transparency and Accountability’ category. Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister Nara Lokesh said that AP won the highest number of awards in the country.
According to the list of awards, AP was awarded first prize in Transparency and Accountability category ahead of Telangana, Sikkim and Odisha. The State stood second, behind West Bengal, in ‘Convergence and Livelihood Augmentation’ category. Two teams -- Visakhapatnam and Prakasam -- bagged district-level awards for effective implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
Furthermore, the State also got fourth rank for implementing good governance initiatives, and third in the country in Highest Work Completion, and Implementation of Barefoot Technicians Project categories.
“Andhra Pradesh has swept the Union Ministry of Rural Development Annual Awards, which were announced on Saturday, winning as many as 10 awards - the highest in the country for a State,” Nara Lokesh said. He attributed the success to the government’s progressive reforms and the efforts of the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development officials.
K Sharon Paul from Kurnool, D Rambabu from Nandyal, and Kotabylu in Chittoor district won the awards in GIS Asset Supervisor, effective initiative by Gramin Dak Sevak, and Best Performing Gram Panchayat in implementation of MGNREGA respectively. Lokesh congratulated the award winners.
The categories of awards in which AP did not figure, included performance in Aadhaar seeding, timely payment of wages and compensation for delay in disbursement of wages, and implementation of mission for water conservation.