DARPG Holds 35th Webinar for Replication of Award-Winning Governance Models

In a bid to accelerate the replication of best governance practices across districts, the Prime Minister has directed the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) to conduct virtual conferences and webinars with District Collectors and senior officials, inviting past winners of the Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Public Administration to share their experiences.

Acting on these directions, DARPG has organised 35 National Good Governance Webinars since April 2022 — at the rate of one webinar per month — aimed at promoting the dissemination and replication of award-winning initiatives.

Platform for Scaling Proven District Innovations

Each webinar under the Prime Minister's Awards Scheme attracts around 1,000 officials from line departments, State Governments, District Collectors' offices, State Administrative Training Institutes and Central Training Institutes.

The sessions not only present the award-winning initiatives but also assess their institutionalisation, sustainability and potential for expansion across other districts.

Officials said the initiative is designed to ensure that successful governance models are not confined to individual districts but scaled nationally through structured knowledge-sharing.

35th Webinar Highlights Holistic District Development

The 35th National Good Governance Webinar was held on 27 February 2026 and featured two initiatives that received the PM's Award for Excellence in Public Administration (2023) under the theme "Holistic Development of Districts".

The featured presentations included:

• Eluru District, Andhra Pradesh – Presented by Shri Prasanna Venkatesh V., Secretary, Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society

• Kulgam District, Jammu & Kashmir – Presented by Shri Atha Aamir Khan, Deputy Commissioner, Kulgam

Both districts showcased innovative approaches aimed at integrated development and improved service delivery.

Nationwide Participation

The webinar was chaired by Shri Puneet Yadav, Additional Secretary, DARPG, and attended by senior officers of the Department.

Participation spanned more than 740 locations across India, including:

• Senior officials from Administrative Reforms Departments of States and UTs

• District Collectors

• State and district-level officers

• Officers from Central and State Administrative Training Institutes

Strengthening Good Governance Architecture

The monthly webinar series reflects a structured effort to build a national repository of scalable governance innovations.

By enabling direct interaction between award-winning districts and field-level administrators, the initiative seeks to strengthen peer learning, accelerate adoption of best practices and enhance citizen-centric governance outcomes.

Officials described the programme as part of a broader good governance agenda that prioritises transparency, efficiency and replicable district-level transformation models across India.