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Ministry of Jal Shakti organise 2nd National Water Awards
New Delhi: Ministry of Jal Shakti organized the 2nd National Water Awards on 11th & 12th November 2020, at 11.00 hrs to honour the excellence in Water Management and Conservation across the Nation.
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the Award distribution ceremony of National Water Awards in presence of the Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Rattan Lal Kataria, Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Shri U.P. Singh and other officials were also present on the occasion.
Shri M Venkaiah Naidu gave his compliments to the Jal Shakti Ministry and congratulated all the States, institutions, organisations, individuals and others for their contribution to the cause of water conservation. He said that through National Water Awards, Jal Andolan is being transformed into a Jan Andolan. "Without the people's participation nothing will succeed; we saw that in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan," he said.
The Minister of State for Jal Shakti,Shri Rattan LalKataria thanked the Hon’ble Vice President forhis gracious presence at the Award Ceremony and said it is encouraging for both the awardees as well as the officials of the Department.Shri Katariacongratulated the awardees for their remarkable achievements & meaningful contributions in the field of Water Conservation and Management. TheMoS specifically appreciated the brilliant efforts of all such individuals/Organizations that have been working tirelessly in this field but could not get the Award today. He termed their contribution as equallyvaluable. Shri Kataria congratulated the Department for instituting National water Awards to recognize,acknowledge and appreciate the sincere efforts of individuals/Organizations and termed it as a step in the right direction to spread awareness amongst masses on the imminent need to have a holistic approach towards water management.
Shri U.P. Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti welcomed the guests and said that the Ministry of Jal Shakti is committed to address the water related issues in an integrated manner. Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, DG, NMCG and Shri Anil Joshi, Padma Bhushan and a noted environmentalist were also present on the occasion.
Out of 1112 valid applications, a total of 98 winners were selected in 16 categories. The categories in which entries were invited include Best State, Best District, Best Village Panchayat, Best Urban Local Body, Best Research/ Innovation/ New Technology, Best Education/ Mass Awareness effort, Best TV show, Best Newspaper, Best School, Best Institution/ RWA/ Religious Organisation, Best Industry, Best Water Regulatory Authority, Best Water Warrior, Best NGO, Best Water User Association and Best Industry for CSR Activity. Water Users Association and Best Industry for CSR Activity are the two categories which were included in National Water Awards 2019. Few of these categories have sub-categories in different zones of the country. The winners were felicitated with trophies/citation. Except for three categories - ‘Best State’, ‘Best State’ and ‘Best Water Regulatory Authority’, winners from the rest thirteen categories were awarded cash prizes.
The Best State Awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions have gone to Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Mizoram won the first prize in the special category States. Best District Award was sub-divided into six zones – North, South, West, East, Northeast and Aspirational and into two sub categories – Revival of Rivers and Water Conservation. In North, the Award for Best District in Revival of Rivers and Water Conservation was given to Ayodhya and Almora, in South, Vellore and YSR Kadapa, in West, Sangli and Kachchh, in East, Bilaspur and Surajpur, in Northeast, West Tripura (WC) and in Aspirational district category to Khandana and Vizianagaram respectively.
The aim of the National Water Awards is to acknowledge individuals/organizations doing commendable work in the field of water conservation and management. Also, it strives to create awareness among the people about the importance of water and motivate them to adopt the best water usage practices.
The National Water Awards not only focused on the good work and efforts made by individual and organisations across the country, it was a right step in the direction of government’s vision of a ‘Jal Samridh Bharat’. The event provided a good opportunity to start-ups as well as leading organisations to engage and deliberate. The ceremony also provided an occasion for all people and organisations to further cement a strong partnership and engender stakeholders’ engagement in water resources conservation and management.
The National Water Awards 2019 was launched in September 2019 on MyGov portal and entries were also invited by Central Groundwater Board. The Jury Committee was headed by Shri Shashi Shekhar, Former Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Two Screening Committees with members from CGWB and CWC assisted the Jury Committee in studying the applications and selecting the winners.National Water Awardees, delegates and audience joined LIVE through virtual platform.
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