Heads of the Cheruthana and Veeyapuram grama panchayats in Alappuzha have received invitations from the Union government to attend Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on January 26.
Both the local bodies last year bagged the National Panchayat Awards 2023 instituted by the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj. While Cheruthana won the award for best child-friendly panchayat in the country, Veeyapuram bagged first prize under the theme self-sufficient infrastructure in panchayat. The award carried a purse of ₹1 crore each.
Cheruthana panchayat president Aby Mathew said that getting the invitation to the Republic Day programme was a proud moment for the people of the local body.
Earlier, the local body bagged the award after it made all anganwadis in the panchayat self-sufficient with water connection, electricity, child-friendly toilets, playing equipment and so on. The local body had spent ₹18.79 lakh for improving nutrition levels in children. Besides, the panchayat initiated various measures to improve the quality of education in schools and provided scholarships to students for higher studies. The local body, in association with the Excise department, carried out campaigns against drug addiction and alcoholism among students. It conducted hygiene classes with the support of the Suchitwa Mission. Students were provided regular counselling to relieve anxiety and stress.
Pressure cookers
In the current fiscal, the local body distributed pressure cookers to educational institutions, along with constructing compound walls, providing scholarships to differently abled students, and building study rooms for students of Scheduled Caste community.
Sheeja Surendran, president of Veeyapuram panchayat, expressed happiness over the invitation to attend Republic Day parade at Kartavya Path. The panchayat won the self-sufficient infrastructure in panchayat award for successfully implementing a slew of development initiatives such as road connectivity, primary health centres, common service centres, anganwadis, and schools.
