Ngopa
Ngopa, the Mizoram village

AIZAWL: Ngopa, a remote village in north-east Mizoram’s Saitual district, has bagged the National Panchayat Award.

It is the first village in the state to have received the prestigious award, an official said on Saturday.

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In the National Panchayat Award 2023 announced by the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj on Friday, the Mizoram’s village (village council) ranked second after Karnataka’s Mullusoge under Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikar Puraskar (NDSPSVP) category, the official said.

Ngopa stood second as best performing gram panchayat in overall performance in 9 LSGD themes, including poverty free and enhanced livelihoods panchayat, clean and green panchayat and panchayat with good governance, he said.

The first prize under Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikar Puraskar category carries a cash prize of Rs 1.5 crore, Rs 1.25 crore for the second prize and Rs 1 crore for the third prize, he said.

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The national panchayat wards for different categories were announced by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj on Friday.

The awards will be presented to the panchayat or village councils on the occasion of National Conference on Incentivization of Panchayats cum Award Ceremony to be held in Delhi on April 17.

Ngopa is a big village located in the northeastern part of the state bordering Manipur about 182 km from Aizawl.

The village houses about 1,000 families with a population of 4,600.

It is administered as a village council with 7 members.