Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, isorganising the 2^ndNational Water Awards(NWAs)for the year 2019. The Award Distribution Ceremony is on 11^th& 12^th November, 2020 (11 am to 1 pm) through virtual platform.The awards are given to motivate individuals/organizations who are doing commendable work in the field of water resources 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 award winners in different categories will be given a citation, trophy and cash prize.

The NWAs focus on the good work and efforts made by individual and organisations across the country, and the government’s vision for the path to ‘JalSamridh Bharat’. The event provides a good opportunity to start-ups as well as leading organisations to engage and deliberate.The event also provides an occasion for all people and organisations to further cement a strong partnership and engender stakeholders’engagement in water resources conservation and management activities.

The National Water Awards 2019 was launched in September, 2019 through MyGov portal and CGWB email. A total of 1112 valid applications were received by the end of deadline i.e. 31^st December, 2019. A Jury Committee was constituted under Chairmanship of Shri Shashi Shekhar, Former Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR. Two Screening Committees with members from CGWB and CWC assisted the Jury Committee in studying the applications and selecting the winners. A total of 98 winnerswere selectedin 16 different categories - 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. Few of these categories have sub-categories in different zones of the country. The winners will be felicitated with trophies/citation. Except for three categories i.e. ‘Best State’, ‘Best State’ and ‘Best Water Regulatory Authority’, winners from the rest thirteen categories will beawarded cash prizes, too.

On the first day, i.e. 11^th November 2020, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Vice President of Indiais the Chief Guest. He willinaugurate the awards distribution ceremony. Hon’bleMinister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat,Hon’ble Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Rattan Lal Kataria,and other dignitaries will also be present on the occasion.

On the second day, i.e. 12^th November 2020, Shri Prakash Javadekar, Hon’bleMinister of Environment, Forest and Climate Changewill be the Chief Guest. Hon’ble Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Hon’ble Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Rattan Lal Kataria, and other dignitaries will also be present.Leading Environmentalist Anil Joshi (Padma Awardee) will also grace the occasion as special guest on both the days.

National Water Awardees, delegates and the audience will be joining LIVE through virtual platform. The event is being organised in Hall No.5 at VigyanBhawan. The award will also be telecast live on the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mowrrdgr/live.

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