In Meghalaya the state chief minister Dr D D Lapang on Tuesday gave away 52 villages from 6 districts of Meghalaya the Nirmal Gram Puraskar (NGP) 2009, for achieving total sanitation in their respective villages. Addressing at the State Level NGP Award Ceremony held at U SoSo Tham Auditorium, Shillong Dr Lapang expressed hope that this will encourage other villages in the State to strive for achieving Total Sanitation. He called on people to work together to make Meghalaya a ‘Nirmal State’ in the offing.<br/><br/>The Award includes a Certificate and Citation, a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 50,000/- for villages with less than 1000 population, Rs 1 Lac for villages with a population of more than 1000 and less than 2999 and Rs 2 Lacs for villages with a population of more than 2999 and less that 4000.<br/><br/>Among the 52 villages, Madan Kynsaw village of Jaintia Hills District under Laskein C&RD Block received an amount of Rs 2 Lacs as it has a population of more than 2999, while Myntriang village and Iawthymme village of Jaintia Hills and Dingkajhora village and Salbaripara village of West Garo Hills received Rs 1 Lac each as they have a population of more than 1000 and less than 2999 respectively while the rest received Rs 50,000 each.<br/><br/>The NGP was instituted by the Government of India to encourage the implementation of the Centrally Sponsored Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) to felicitate the clean and open defecation free villages for achieving the goal of Total Sanitation by 2012.