Assam govt announces ₹100 cr prize for cleanest district

The Assam government will conduct a cleanliness drive with ₹100 crore as prize money to the winning district to carry out developmental activities, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

Sarma made the announcement while disclosing names of winners of a cleanliness drive carried out last month among 172 villages and tea gardens in Khumtai constituency in Golaghat district—a brainchild of local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJPI MLA Mrinal Saikia—with one kilometre of concrete road as the first prize for the winning village and cash incentives to other winners.

The winners were decided by a jury comprising academicians, environmentalists and journalists among others.

“For the first time a cleanliness competition was organised in the state at Khumtai. I congratulate Mrinal Saikia for such an initiative,” said Sarma while revealing names of five winning villages, each from four district panchayat councils. Prizes were also handed out separately to three winners among tea-gardens that had taken part in the competition.

While Saikia had proposed one kilometre of concrete road as first prize to the winning village and ₹10 lakh to the one that came second and similar incentives to other winners from his MLA development scheme funds, Sarma announced that the state government will double the prizes with money from the state exchequer.

“I wish such competitions are held in other 125 constituencies of the state. We have earmarked ₹100 crore in this year’s budget for cleanliness competition among all districts and whichever district becomes the winner will be given ₹100 crore for developmental activities in urban and rural areas,” he said.

In the annual budget presented on Thursday, finance minister Ajanta Neog had stated that various parameters like 100% door to door collection of garbage, segregation of waste, setting up and functioning of solid waste management plants, clearing of legacy waste, setting up of sewage treatment plant and used water management would be kept in mind while deciding on the winning district.