Sikkim gets award for excellence in public administration
By IANS - NEW DELHI
21st April 2013 03:33 PM
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday presented to Sikkim an
award for "extraordinary and innovative" work done by the state's Rural
Management and Development Department.
The prime minister presented a medal, a scroll and cash
award of Rs.5 lakh to D.R. Nepal, secretary, Rural Management and Development
Department, Sikkim, for exemplary performance of civil servants in the
organizational category for year 2011-12, said a statement issued by Sikkim's
principal resident commissioner here.
The award was given on the occasion of the eighth Civil
Services Day Sunday, at a function at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital.
The state has been conferred with the Prime Minister's
Award for excellence in Public Administration for its initiative "Excellence in
Rural Management and Development in challenging physical environment of the
Sikkim Himalaya," for achieving visible improvement in the quality of life of
its rural people.
"Sikkim is the first and only Nirmal Rajya in the country
to achieve hundred percent success under the Total Sanitation Programme in the
year 2008. At least 87.2 percent of the households have access to toilets within
their homes (2011 census), as compared to 36.3 percent in the year 2001," the
release said.
Poverty in the state has reduced from 30.9 percent in
2004-05 to 13.1 percent in 2009-10, which is significantly lower than the
national average of 29.8 percent in the year 2009-10, the statement it said.
The 17.8 percent rate of poverty reduction in Sikkim is the
second-best in the country.
At least 65 percent of rural households were employed
through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
in the year 2011-12 in the state.
The RM&D has over the last five years bagged 16
national level prestigious awards from the various ministries, and this national
award is a reaffirmation of the visible contribution made in improving the
quality of life of the rural communities, the statement
said.
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