Question

Why is the Nirmal Gram Puraskar awarded and to whom?

Answer 1

Hint: This award is presented by the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan.The Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan is also formerly known as the Total Sanitation Campaign.

Complete answer:
The Nirmal Gram Puraskar is an initiative that was launched by the Government of India in 2003 and was awarded for the first time in 2005. This award is an incentive to promote 100% sanitation in a village. It is awarded to the village panchayats for their excellent work towards sanitation. The scheme honors the Gram Panchayats and provides them with cash rewards if they achieve 100% sanitation. Having 100% sanitation means that the village should be 100% free from open defecation and all its issues regarding solid and liquid wastes has been tackled.
From 2005 to 2011, the Nirmal Gram Puraskar was awarded by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Now, this duty has been transferred to the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, and it has been presenting this award ever since.
The primary aim of the Nirmal Gram Puraskar is to create awareness on the topic of sanitation and to develop defecation free villages. It is a very important issue and has to be brought to the notice of the social and political development scene in the rural areas.
The following are the priorities of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan;
1. Providing sanitation facilities in government schools and anganwadis
2. Management of solid and liquid wastes
3. Extending the building capacity of Village institutions, Village Water and Sanitation Committees
4. Maintaining a proper convergence with unskilled-man-days and skilled-man-days.

Note: Sikkim is the first Indian state to achieve 100% sanitation coverage.
This approach towards sanitation has been acclaimed internationally and has helped difficult programs like rural sanitation to pick up.