Hon’ble Union minister of Jal Shakti Shri CR Paatil announced the list of winners of 6th National Water Awards, today, at Shram Shakti Bhawan New Delhi. The Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD &GR), under the Ministry of Jal Shakti announced the 46 winners, including joint winners, for the 6th National Water Awards for the year 2024 in 10 categories viz Best State, Best District, Best Village Panchayat, Best Urban Local Body, Best School or College, Best Industry, Best Water User Association, Best Institution (other than school or college), Best Civil Society and Best individual for excellence in water sector. The list of winners is annexed.

In the category of Best State, the first prize has been conferred upon Maharashtra, with Gujarat securing the second position, and Haryana securing the third position.

Each award winner will be conferred with a citation and a trophy as well as cash prizes in certain categories.

The Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD &GR), announced that award distribution ceremony for the 6th National Water Awards, 2024 is going to be held on 18th November, 2025 at 11.30 am at Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu will be the Chief Guest at the event.

Hon’ble Minister of State for the Ministry of Jal Shakti Shri Raj Bhushan Chaudhary, Secretary Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD &GR), Sh V.L. Kantha Rao, Secretary Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation Shri Ashok K.K Meena and other Senior officials of Ministry of Jal Shakti joined the Cabinet Minister in announcing the National Water Awards.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti serves as the central ministry entrusted with the responsibility of establishing policy frameworks and implementing programs for the development, preservation, and efficient management of water as a national asset. Under the guidance of Hon'ble Prime Minister, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has been undertaking a comprehensive campaign to spread awareness about water management and water conservation on a national level. From this standpoint and to create awareness among the people about the importance of water and to help motivate people to adopt the best water usage practices, the 1st National Water Awards were launched in 2018 by the DoWR, RD & GR. The 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th National Water Awards were given for the years 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023. The awards were not given in the year 2021 due to CoVID pandemic.

For the year 2024, 6th National Water Awards were launched on 23rd October 2024 on Rashtriya Puraskar Portal of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). A total of 751 applications were received. The applications were scrutinised and evaluated by a Jury Committee. The ground truthing of the shortlisted applications was carried out by the Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB). Based on the ground truthing reports, a total of 46 winners, including Joint winners, covering 10 different categories have been selected for the 6th NWA for the year 2024.

The National Water Awards (NWAs) focus on the good work and efforts made by individuals and organisations across the country in attaining the government’s vision of a ‘Jal Samridh Bharat’. The awards are for creating awareness among the people about the importance of water and motivating them to adopt best water usage practices. The event provides an occasion for all people and organizations to further cement a strong partnership and people engagement in water resources conservation and management activities.

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Annexure-I

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