The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) on Saturday (May 9) officially announced the winners of the National Panchayat Awards 2025, with Kerala emerging as one of the strongest performers across health, infrastructure and governance categories.

Several local bodies from the state secured top national rankings, underlining Kerala’s performance in grassroots development.

Harippad in Alappuzha district was declared India’s best “Block Panchayat”, receiving a ₹2 crore prize. Melukavu in Kottayam district secured first place in the “Self-Sufficient Infrastructure in Panchayat” category and will receive a ₹1 crore incentive.

Kerala also earned recognition in thematic categories. Ottoor in Thiruvananthapuram district secured third place in the “Child-Friendly Panchayat” category, while Niranam in Pathanamthitta district finished third in the “Healthy Panchayat” category.

Ottoor will receive ₹50 lakh, while Niranam has been awarded ₹25 lakh.

Awards based on Panchayat Advancement Index scores

The competition saw participation from Panchayats across the country, with 42 Panchayats selected for honours.

“34 Gram Panchayats spread across 17 States and Union Territories have been selected under DDUPSVP that also includes joint winners,” the ministry said.

The ministry stated that the winners were selected on the basis of “Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) 2.0 scores”, with the assessment process designed to remain data-driven and evidence-based.

In 2023, the Ministry revised the framework for the awards. According to the ministry, the structure is now “aligned with the nine themes of Localization of SDGs (LSDGs), making assessment more holistic, transparent and data-driven”.

The evaluation considered performance in areas including poverty reduction, water sufficiency and governance.

Award ceremony to be held in New Delhi

“The award distribution ceremony is scheduled to take place on 3rd June 2026 in New Delhi,” the ministry said.

The event will honour the “best-performing Panchayats at the District, Block, and Gram Panchayat levels”.

Winners from across India are set to receive prize amounts ranging from ₹50 lakh to ₹5 crore, depending on category, rank and size.

“To recognize and incentivize best-performing Panchayats, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj annually confers the National Panchayat Awards,” the ministry stated.

The awards are presented under the “Incentivization of Panchayats (IoP) scheme”, which forms part of the broader “Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)”.

The ministry said the initiative aims to encourage local bodies to convert national development goals into “impactful grassroots action”.