Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh has been chosen for the Prime Minister’s Excellence in Public Administration Award for ensuring supply of tap water in every house in the district under the Union government’s ‘Har Ghar Jal Yojana’, officials said on Thursday.

The award will be conferred on the district at the National Civil Services Day event on April 21 in Delhi, they added.

“Tap water is being provided to more than one lakh households in 254 villages under 167 panchayats. Women are being empowered through Jal Jeevan Mission as they were entrusted with running the Nal Jal schemes and collecting tax from end users,” Burhanpur Collector Bhavya Mittal told PTI.

“These women are getting 20 per cent as commission on such tax collection. Around 1,700 women are running this scheme, which is being monitored by a Whatsapp group. Women are getting empowered,” Mittal added.

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While Dahinala village panchayat secretary Dongar Singh Alave said 312 out of 360 households were getting tap water, which starts at a designated time, Sunita Yadav of a self-help group in Jhiri village said the scheme has ended water woes.

More such schemes should be implemented to bring about large scale development of villages in the country, Jhiri’s woman sarpanch Asha Kaitwas said.

An official release said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address civil servants during April 21’s event.

Incidentally, Burhanpur, located 340 kilometres from state capital Bhopal, used to have an extensive underground water management system during the Mughal era, officials said.

Burhanpur’s Mughal-era underground water management system, called ‘Kundi bhandara’ or ‘khooni bhandara’, is a network of ‘kundis’ or well-like structures connected through an underground tunnel that worked on gravity to ensure water distribution.

“An iron stairway or rope is used to enter the tunnel through these kundis. These structures are still functional and serve water to a portion of the district’s residents. They are also popular among tourists,” an official said.

National Civil Services Day is celebrated to honour administrators, officials for their work at various public departments for the betterment of citizens.

April 21 was chosen as it was on this day on in 1947 that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Home Minister of India, addressed civil services probationers and exhorted them to ensure the benefits of government schemes reach citizens.