Government of India awarded Nirmal Gram Puraskar to 22 Gram panchayats of Himachal Pradesh. Rajesh Sharma, Joint Secretary, Rural Development received the award from Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India at New Delhi last evening.
Panchayats were open defecation free and awarded under Total Sanitation Campaign. Out of the 22 Gram Panchayats,
17 Panchayats are of Mandi district,
2 of Solan district
and 1 each of Chamba, Kullu and Kinnaur districts.
Prize money of the award was Rs. 5 lac for panchayats having population above 10,000,
Rs. 4 lac for 5000 –10,000 panchayat population,
Rs. 2 lac for panchayat having population between 2000-5000, Rs. 1 lac for the Panchayat with population of 1000 to 2000 and Rs. 50,000 to panchayat having population less than 50,000.
