AIZAWL: Mizoram urban development and poverty alleviation department (UD & PA) bagged the first rank in the prestigious SPARK award under DAY-national urban livelihood mission (NULM).
The department stood first among nine states in the Northeast and Himalayan range during the fiscal 2021-2022 and 2022-23 and received the Systematic Progressive Analytical Real Time Ranking (SPARK) award, which carried a cash incentive of Rs 10 crore, an official said.
Mizoram had bagged 2nd rank award in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 financial years in a row and had already received Rs 6 crore as performance incentive award.
The SPARK award is given by ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) based on the performance of states, which completed the targeted schemes under the DAY-NULM on annual basis.
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After consideration of different yardsticks under DAY-NULM for fiscals 2021-22 and 2022-23, Mizoram was awarded the first rank by MoHUA on March 31, the official said.
The ministry had also released the performance incentive award amounting to Rs 10 crore.