Sanitation has become major movement in cities now: Dhami

Dehradun, 19 Dec:  Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami awarded Atal Nirmal Nagar Puraskar 2023 to the municipal bodies (Nirmal Nagars) which performed better in the Swachh Sarvekshan-2022, at a function held at Chief Minister‘s residence here today. On this occasion, Atal Nirmal Puraskar was given to 9 civic bodies of the state and Swachh Gaurav Samman was given to 5 nationally awarded civic bodies. The Chief Minister also launched the logo of Doon Cantt Swachhta Chaupal during the programme.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also made four announcements on the occasion. He said that the amount of Atal Nirmal Nagar Award would be increased from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore, according to the provisions that would be made to include the Cantt Board. The beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban would also be given an incentive amount of Rs 5 thousand each for the goods after the house is built. The CM further announced that Paryavaran Mitras working during the Yatra in Kedarnath, Badrinath and Gangotri would be given additional honorarium for food and warm uniform. An amount of 1 percent would be made available from the State Finance Commission for the payment of pension bills of Centralised Service employees.

Congratulating the representatives, officers and employees of the Municipal Corporation, Municipality and Nagar Panchayat honoured today, the Chief Minister said that by performing better in the cleanliness survey 2022, these bodies had brought laurels to Uttarakhand by getting recognition at the national level.  The CM said, “It is a matter of pride for Uttarakhand that 9 bodies have been selected for the year 2022-23 on the basis of better performance in the cleanliness survey 2022. The civic bodies are the mirrors of the state. Continuous efforts are needed in the direction of how we can work better in our bodies. The municipal bodies will play an important role in making Uttarakhand a leading state by 2025. The overall development of Uttarakhand is the collective responsibility of all the people of the state, everyone has to contribute in this”.

Dhami added that after 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took up the cause of cleanliness in the country and started the big change, the result of which was visible in the whole country now. The result of his great vision was that today about 25 states of the country had declared themselves completely free from open defecation. The Prime Minister had stressed on 4 Ps namely, ‘Political Leadership, Public Funding, Partnership and People’s Participation’ which were necessary to make the world clean.

Urban Development Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal said that good work was being done by the civic bodies for the development of the state. Getting the award on a big platform gave a sense of pride. This inspired other bodies to do good work. It was a big achievement for the state to get a total of six awards at the national level.

The category-wise selection of bodies for Atal Nirmal Nagar Puraskar 2022-23 was done on the basis of their performance in Swachh Survekshan-2022. In which Municipal Corporation Dehradun got first, Municipal Corporation Roorkee second and Municipal Corporation Rishikesh got third prizes. Prize amounts of Rs 20 lakhs, Rs 15 lakhs and Rs 10 lakhs were provided to these municipal corporations respectively. Among municipalities Muni Ki Reti municipality received first, Narendranagar second and Doiwala got third prize. Amounts of Rs 15 lakhs, 10 lakhs and 8 lakhs were provided to these municipalities respectively. Among Nagar Panchayats, Nagar Panchayat Nandprayag got first, Nagar Panchayat Sultanpur second and Nagar Panchayat Gularbhoj got third prize. These Nagar Panchayats were given funds of Rs 10 lakhs, 7 lakhs and 5 lakhs respectively.

On this occasion, the Chief Minister gave Swachhata Gaurav Samman to 5 nationally awarded bodies in the Swachh Survekshan-2022. The Municipal Corporation Haridwar got the first place among Ganga cities with population of more than one lakh at the national level, Cantonment Board Landour first place for maximum citizen feedback in Cantonment Council category, Municipal Council Ramnagar in the category of population between 50 thousand and 1 lakh in North Zone. Fastest Mover City Award in cities, Municipal Council Doiwala had been given Fastest Mover City Award in cities with population less than 15 thousand in North Zone and Municipal Council Narendra Nagar has been given Best Sustainable City Award in cities with population less than 15 thousand in North Zone.