The Centre has recently awarded the prestigious ‘National Award for e-Governance (NAeG)’ during the 27th National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG) to the Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, Mr. Manish Ranjan. Officer Ranjan was awarded during a ceremony at the Jio Convention Centre in Mumbai.
Officer Ranjan (2002-batch IAS officer), presently posted as the Director of the Sri Krishna Institute of Public Administration (SKIPA), played a pivotal role in launching the JHAR-JAL portal while working as the Secretary of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department. The JHAR-JAL Portal of Jharkhand is an initiative in water management and sustainable development that benefits rural households across all 29,595 villages in the state by providing real-time information on water and sanitation services. Additionally, 3,51,156 Jal Choupals have been conducted, and 14,595 water resource mappings have been completed.
A team consisting of officers from the Centre visited many areas of Jharkhand to assess the status of Jal Nal Yojana in Jharkhand by conducting surprise inspections of several areas of Bokaro, Ramgarh, Hazaribagh and Palamu. Impressed by their discovery, they reported to the Union Government and Officer Ranjan was consequently selected for this award.
The ‘National Award for e-Governance’ aims to recognize and promote excellence in the implementation of e-Governance initiatives and to encourage innovation in successful e-Governance solutions. The NAeG are conferred under different categories each year during the National Conference on E-Governance (NCeG), organised by the DARPG in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the respective State Governments hosting the annual event.