Prize work acknowledged at The Indian Express Excellence in Governance Awards: Rural solar power to innovation labs & 56-hr rescue op

The 16 winners were chosen from over 450 entries received from 29 states after evaluation by PwC, the knowledge partner for the awards, and validation through field visits by The Indian Express team of correspondents and editors.

The winners of The Indian Express Excellence in Governance Awards with Union Minister of Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, The Indian Express Group Chairman and Managing Director Viveck Goenka, Executive Director Anant Goenka, CEO George Varghese, jury members Wajahat Habibullah and Amarjeet Sinha in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo: Renuka Puri)

Wth categories ranging from agriculture, sustainability and e-governance to resource utilisation of government schemes, disaster management, law and order, and gender inclusivity, the third edition of the biennial awards celebrated and acknowledged District Magistrates whose work was at the forefront of governance.

Among the winners, for instance, was Pushpendra Kumar Meena, District Magistrate of Durg in Chhattisgarh, who spearheaded the screening of 3.4 lakh rural households to spread mental health awareness. Along with this, over 2,900 mental health patients were also treated.

For Meena, the award was all about “lives saved”. “I remember one girl was suffering from schizophrenia. We helped her get stable. Multiple people who were about to commit suicide were identified… The biggest challenge was the stigma around mental health issues in rural households. On top of that, we had to train the district staff to identify mental health issues,” he said.

“People think this is just their personality… how God made them. But that’s not true. Making them understand this was the biggest challenge. I learnt a lot in the process,” Meena said.

Then, there was Sachin Rana, DM of East Kameng in Arunachal Pradesh, who played a key role in installing five innovation labs for tribal communities. Rana’s initiative ensured the enrolment of over 2,000 students and involved imparting skills such as integrated robotics and 3D printing.

“We found out that many things that are easily available in the rest of the country were not available in Arunachal Pradesh. Students were given toolkits and 3D printers. More than 50,000 such labs will now be set up across the country,” Rana said.

Balasore DM Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde’s role in the relentless rescue operation after the triple train tragedy in Odisha in June 2023, in which at least 293 people were killed, was also acknowledged. It was mainly due to the efforts of Shinde’s team, which included NGOs, volunteers, police and military personnel, that only six of the 6,000 injuries were fatalities. In fact, the operation was so effective that it was integrated into national disaster response frameworks.

“The sheer scale of the accident moved me… when I saw it before my eyes, I could feel the pain of the people. I wanted to make sure that no one goes through this again,” Shinde said. The biggest challenge, he said, was the segregation of those injured according to their needs.

Among other DMs on the list was Karn Satyarthi of Gumla in Jharkhand, who ensured that solar energy reached over 40 villages in the district, and Kengoo Zuringla of Ukhrul in Manipur, who set up a single access point for all government services through an online platform that reduced citizen visits to government offices by 70 per cent and reduced service fulfilment time by 40 per cent.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & IT, was the Chief Guest at the event. The Guest of Honour was Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology and Earth Sciences; MoS, Prime Minister’s Office; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Atomic Energy and Space.