The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti will be organizing the Award Distribution Ceremony for the 4th National Water Awards on 17th June, 2023 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The Vice President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has been requested to be the Chief Guest at the Ceremony. 41 winners, including joint winners, have been selected for the 4th National Water Awards, 2022, covering 11 categories including ‘Best State’, ‘Best District’, ‘Best Village Panchayat’, ‘Best Urban Local Body’, ‘Best School’, ‘Best Media’, ‘Best Institution for campus usage’, ‘Best water user association’, ‘Best Industry’, ‘Best Industry for CSR activities’, and ‘Best NGO’. The award winners in different categories will be given a citation, trophy and cash prize. The cash prizes for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rank winners are Rs.2 lakhs, Rs.1.5 lakhs, and Rs.1 lakh, respectively.

Chairing a meeting to review the arrangements for the awards distribution ceremony, the Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Shri Pankaj Kumar asserted that the ceremony will provide an occasion for all the winners, participants and various organizations to further cement a strong partnership and encourage peoples' engagement in water resources’ conservation and management activities. He said that these awards will also help create awareness among the masses about the importance of water and motivate them to adopt and promote best water usage practices.

It is expected that Award winners and dignitaries/officers from various Ministries/ Departments/ Organizations/ State Governments along with about 1,500 guests will participate in the ceremony. Committees headed by senior officers of the Ministry are being constituted to oversee various arrangements for the award ceremony. Click Here for more details of the awards: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1848661

The Ministry of Jal Shakti is the nodal ministry responsible for laying down policy guidelines and programmes for the development, conservation and management of water as a national resource. The support and active participation of various stakeholders, including the States, Districts, Schools, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Gram Panchayats, Urban Local Bodies, Water User Associations, Institutions and Corporate Sector is crucial for efficacious management of precious water resources.  It is in this backdrop that the National Water Awards (NWA) have been instituted to recognize and encourage exemplary work and efforts made by States, Districts, individuals, organizations, etc across the country in attaining the vision of a ‘Jal Samriddh Bharat’.

The first edition of the National Water Awards was introduced by the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation in 2018 and 82 winners across 14 categories were awarded on 25 February, 2019 in New Delhi. Thereafter, the 2nd National Water Awards were announced in 2019 and 98 winners under 16 categories were felicitated by the Vice President of India on 11-12 November, 2020. The 3rd National Water Awards distribution ceremony was organized on 29th March 2022 and 57 winners under 11 categories were felicitated with awards by the President of India. The 4^th National Water Awards will now be conferred on 17^th June, 2023 at Vigyan Bhawan where 41 winners across 11 categories will be awarded.

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