These achievements are not only personal triumphs but also send a strong message against caste- and gender-based discrimination. While one officer is greening the environment, another is strengthening accounting and financial transparency.
New Delhi – The stellar performance of Dalit women officers in India’s administrative system is once again in the headlines. Rajasthan’s IAS officer Tina Dabi has made history by securing her district, Barmer, the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari Puraskar (JSJB) for environmental protection, while Bengaluru’s senior IA&AS officer Dipna Netrapal has received the National CAG Award for innovation in GST audit and training reform. Dipna is the first Dalit woman officer to receive these awards. These achievements are not only personal triumphs but also send a strong message against caste- and gender-based discrimination. While one officer is greening the environment, another is strengthening accounting and financial transparency.
The arid Barmer district of Rajasthan has won the first Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari Puraskar for its outstanding public participation in rainwater harvesting. The district will receive a prize of ₹2 crore for this achievement. District Collector Tina Dabi stated that President Draupadi Murmu will present the award at the sixth National Water Awards ceremony to be held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on November 18th. Tina Dabi has previously received numerous awards for her meritorious work.
IAS Tina Dabi created history in 2015 by securing the first rank in the UPSC Civil Services Examination. At the age of 22, she became the first Dalit woman to achieve this feat in her first attempt. Tina has extensively promoted the construction of traditional ‘tanks’ (underground water tanks) in Barmer. Under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti’s ‘Catch the Rain’ initiative, the state was divided into five zones and given the target of installing at least 10,000 artificial recharge and water storage structures. Barmer surpassed this target and topped the Northern region, reviving local water sources through thousands of tanks. This initiative by DABI is not only addressing the water crisis but also empowering rural communities, proving to be a milestone in quenching the thirst of the desert region.
Meanwhile, Deepna Netrapal, Principal Director of the Regional Training Centre (RTC) and Capacity Building and Knowledge Centre (RCB&KC) in Bengaluru, has been awarded the National CAG Award. She received this award for two key initiatives: innovation and excellence in public accounting and auditing in GST audits, and the transformation of the training setup in Bengaluru.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India launched the scheme of “CAG’s Awards for Innovation and Excellence in Public Audit and Accounting” in 2021 to recognize and reward exceptional and innovative work done by officers and employees of the Indian Accounts Department in the areas of public audit, accounting, entitlements, and support functions. While the CAG Awards Scheme 2021 recognizes exceptional team excellence, which fosters a meritocratic environment, fostering overall qualitative improvement is even more important from an organizational perspective.
To this end, in addition to the existing scheme that rewards team efforts toward excellence and exceptional work, a new award category has been instituted in 2022: the award for the “Most Improved Office.” This award category seeks to recognize offices working in the areas of accounting, audit, and training that have demonstrated the greatest improvement in performance during the prescribed evaluation period.
Geetha Sunil Pillai
Courtesy: Hindi News