The President Mr Pranab Mukherjee today gave away the Indira Gandhi National Service Scheme-NSS Awards to institutions and individuals in recognition of their contribution in community service at a function in New Delhi.

Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Karnataka was awarded the best university for its contribution in the field of community health through National Service Scheme (NSS).

In the category of upcoming university, there was a tie and the award was shared between Directorate of Higher Education, Himachal Pradesh and University of Kashmir. Both these Institutions have made valuable contribution to NSS, despite facing tremendous adversities, the citations read.

Andhra University; Directorate of Technical Education, Kerala; University of Mumbai; Annamalai University; and University of Calcutta were given Certificate of Appreciation for their contributions.

Thirty volunteers were also awarded for their dedicated and selfless services in NSS.

National Service Scheme is aimed at developing qualities of good citizenship and spirit of volunteerism among youth and to provide them an opportunity to work with the people in the villages and slum dwellers.