On 22nd October 2024, the President of India Droupadi Murmu has conferred the 5th National Water Awards (NWAs) for the year 2023 on 38 winners including joint winners across 9 different categories such as: Best Village Panchayat, Best Urban Local Body (ULB), Best Industry, Best Water User Association, Best Institution (other than school or college), and Best Civil Society.
- These awards were presented during a ceremony held at Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi(Delhi).
- Odisha won the 1st prize in the category of Best State, while Uttar Pradesh (UP) secured the 2nd position, and Gujarat and Puducherry, Union Territory (UT) with state legislature, jointly secured the 3rd position in this category.
About NWAs 2023:
i.The recipient of each award was conferred with a citation and a trophy as well as cash prizes in certain categories.
ii.Jhajjar( Haryana)-based Aravali Power Company Private Limited (APCPL) honoured with the Best Industry award for 2023.
iii.Pentakli Project Union Water User Association in Budhana district, Maharashtra won1st Prize in the category of Best Water User Association (WUA).
iv.The Best district awards were given across 6 different zones in India, demonstrating exceptional efforts in water management and conservation. For instance: Visakhapatnam district from Andhra Pradesh (AP) won from the South zone.
Selection Process:
i.5th NWAs were launched on 13th October, 2023 on Rashtriya Puraskar Portal of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and had received 689 applications.
ii.Later, these applications were examined and evaluated by a Jury Committee and then, Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) carried out ground truthing of the shortlisted applications after which 38 winners, including joint winners covering all 9 categories were selected for awards.
List of NWAs for 2023:
| Best State | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Name of the State | |
| 1 | Odisha | |
| 2 | Uttar Pradesh(UP) | |
| 3 | Puducherry and Gujarat | |
| Best District | ||
| S.NO. | Zone (one award per zone) | Name of the District |
| 1 | South | Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (AP) |
| 2 | North East | Dhalai, Tripura |
| 3 | North (Joint Winner) | Banda, UP |
| 4 | North (Joint Winner) | Ganderbal, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) |
| 5 | West | Indore, Madhya Pradesh (MP) |
| 6 | East | Balangir, Odisha |
| Best Village Panchayat | ||
| Rank | Name of the Village | |
| 1 | Pullampara, Thirvananthapuram, Kerala | |
| 2 | Masulpani, Kanker, Chhattisgarh | |
| 3 | Hampapuram, Anantapur, AP and Khliehrangnah, West Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya (Joint Winners) | |
| Best Urban Local Body (ULB) | ||
| Rank | Name of the ULB | |
| 1 | Surat, Gujarat | |
| 2 | Puri, Odisha | |
| 3 | Pune, Maharashtra | |
| Best School or College | ||
| Rank | Name of the School/College | |
| 1 | Government Upper Primary School, Jethwanka Bas, Sikar, Rajasthan | |
| 2 | Government Sarvodya Kanya Vidyalaya, B-3 Paschim Vihar, New Delhi | |
| 3 | Khairbani Ashram School, Baisanga, Mayurbanj, Odisha | |
| BHSS, Zainakote, Srinagar (J&K) (Special Mention) | ||
| Best Industry | ||
| Rank | Name of Industry | |
| 1 | Aravali Power Company Private Limited (APCPL), Jhajjar, Haryana | |
| 2 | Apollo Tyres Limited, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu (TN) | |
| 3 | Raymond Uco Denim Private Limited, Yavatmal, Maharashtra | |
| Best Water User Association (WUA) | ||
| Rank | Name of WUA | |
| 1 | Pentakli Project Union Water User Association, Budhana district, Maharashtra | |
| 2 | Water User Cooperative Society, Kagekodamagge, Shivamogga, Karnataka | |
| 3 | Parambur Big Tank Water User Association, Pudukkottai, TN | |
| Best Institution (other than School/College) | ||
| Rank | Name of Institution | |
| 1 | Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, TN | |
| 2 | KonerLaksmaiah Education Foundation, Guntur, AP | |
| 3 | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madra, Chennai, TN and Sri Tirumala Nagar Resident Welfare Association, Visakhapatnam, AP; | |
| Special Mention | IIT Tirupati, Tirupati, AP | |
| Birla Institute of Science and Technology, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan | ||
| Best Civil Society | ||
| Rank | Name of Applicant | |
| 1 | BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune, Maharashtra | |
| 2 | YuvaMitra Mitrangan Campus, Nashik, Maharashtra | |
| 3 | Gramin Vikas Trust, KanchanKunj, Dahod, Gujarat | |
| Special Mention | Art of Living, Vyakti Vikas Kendra India, Benguluru, Karnataka | |
| S.M. Sehgal Foundation, Institutional Area, Gurugram | ||
Background:
i.The NWAs were launched in 2018 by the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR), Ministry of Jal Shakti(MoJS). These awards are part of the ongoing nationwide drive of a “Jal Samridh Bharat” or “Water Prosperous India”.
ii.It focuses on encouraging the good work and efforts made by various individuals and organisations, and provides an opportunity to strengthen public participation in water resource conservation and management activities.
About Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS):
Union Minister- Chandrakant Raghunath Patil (Constituency- Navsari, Gujarat)
Minister of State (MoS)- V. Somanna (Constituency- Tumkur, Karnataka); Raj Bhushan Choudhary (Constituency- Muzaffarpur, Bihar)
