Mangalore: The Dakshin Kannada district Panchayat (DK-ZP) that recently won a national clean village honour in New Delhi has now been conferred with a Rs 25 lakh award, under Panchayat Empowerment scheme.

ZP president K.T. Shailaja Bhat again went to Delhi, to receive this new award for accountability incentive from union Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday. His ministry had instituted the award.

Ms. Shailaja Bhat, talking to pressmen said that she was delighted to join the club of 13 other ZP that had received this national level prestigious award, for DK.

State rural development minister Jagdish Shettar and union minister for Panchayati Raj, V. Kishore Chandra Deo, attend the award function. DK –ZP CEO KN Vijay Prakash stated that evaluation was done under six categories and DK topped each

Ms. Bhat added that one of the sub- parameters was about programmes empowering women in the district, which is regarded as achieving 100% rural totally clean sanitary programme-holding district. ( Nirmala Grama Panchayat Yojana).