Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Narendra Singh Tomar conferred 240 out of the 2.5 lakh panchayats with the National Panchayat Awards 2019 here on Wednesday.
Congratulating the winners, Tomar called upon every panchayat to move ahead for making a new India.
"Gram panchayats and sarpanches should fully utilize the powers given to them and should formulate the development plans for their panchayats at the earliest to effectively implement the government programs," Tomar said at the event here.
Tomar said that every elected representative should be proud of the responsibility given to them by the voters and said they were no less than any other elected representative of the country.
Urging the awarded panchayat representatives, he asked them to "a model and motivation to other panchayats so that they also can learn and strive for betterment."
The Panchayati Raj Ministers from states of Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Assam and Tamil Nadu along with representatives of panchayati raj institutions across the country took part in the award ceremony.
The Awards were given in recognition of the good work done in the field of improving the delivery of services and public goods, sanitation, civic services, natural resource management, serving marginalized sections of society among others.