Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday launched a dedicated website for the Prime Minister’s awards for excellence in public administration and said that the emphasis will be on qualitative achievements rather than achieving the quantitative targets while deciding the honour.

The registration on PM’s awards web portal -- https://www.pmawards.gov.in -- ?has commenced from Monday for due registration and the submission of applications till November 28.

Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, said, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the entire concept and format of the PM excellence awards has undergone a revolutionary change after 2014.?

The objective of the Scheme is to encourage constructive competition, innovation, replication and institutionalisation of best practices, he said.

The PM’s awards, 2022 will consist of a trophy, scroll and an incentive of Rs 20 lakh to the awarded district/organisation to be utilised for implementation of project/programme or bridging resources gaps in any area of public welfare, a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

The period of consideration is April 1, 2020 to September 30, 2022, it said. ?There would be 16 Prime Minister’s awards for excellence in public administration.

“Under this approach, the emphasis would be on good governance, qualitative achievement and last mile connectivity, rather than only on achievement of quantitative targets,” the statement said. ?With this focus, the applications for awards would be evaluated on good governance and qualitative parameters.?

Singh recalled that during his address on civil services day, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had emphasised to continuously create a perfect seamless mechanism to give due benefits to the last person.

“The more we build this mechanism, we can achieve the country’s mission of empowerment of the last person. Civil services day should become an opportunity to infuse new energy within us and to make new resolutions,” the statement said.?

“We should handhold the new officers with new enthusiasm. Certain entrepreneurs from the district or who have been active in a particular district can be called to share their learning and experiences which can then be replicated as best practices,” it said.

It is expected that all the districts participating in this scheme will get an opportunity to showcase their performance while competing for Prime Minister’s award for excellence in public administration 2022, the statement said.

For the year 2022, the scheme for Prime Minister’s awards for excellence in public administration aims to recognise the contribution of civil servants in promoting 'swachh jal' (clean water) through Har Ghar Jal Yojana, promoting 'swasth bharat' (Healthy India) through health & wellness centres and promoting quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment through Samagra Shiksha among others.

(With PTI Inputs)