Bengal schemes get UN award
Bengal schemes get top UN award
Once again, a social scheme from Bengal has been recognised at the highest level, by none other than the United Nations (UN).
The Sabooj Sathi scheme got the top prize in the ‘E-government’ category at the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes, awarded jointly on an annual basis by three UN agencies—International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
This year, due to the COVIS-19 pandemic, the award ceremony was held virtually. A total of 1,600 projects from 160 countries participated this year, of which 352 were nominated in 18 categories.
Through the Sabooj Sathi project, students of all government and government-aided schools and madrasas of classes 9 to 12 get bicycles.
The aim is to enable students even from far off places to attend school. As a result of this project, there has been significant decline in school dropouts across Bengal.
Last year too, Sabooj Sathi was a topper, in that it was one of the five Champion Projects in the same category. The Utkarsh Bangla scheme, another flagship scheme of the state, won the top prize in the ‘Capacity Building’ category.
