Over the past five years, Gujarat has made excellent progress on all fronts – and these efforts have not gone unnoticed. Whether it is the rehabilitation of earthquake victims or e-Governance implementation for transparency; best practices in solid waste management or environment consciousness – Gujarat has pursued excellence in several areas and won over 60 accolades and awards along the way. Not only is the number large, if one looks at the list of awards, it includes awards and citations for a variety of sectors right from economic freedom to environmental protection, e-Governance to energy conservation, health to heritage protection and sanitation to software development, reflecting holistic development of the state.

The agencies conferring these awards also range widely from International bodies like the United Nations, World Bank, UNESCO, Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management (CAPAM), to various Ministries/agencies of the Government of India like the Ministry of power, the Ministry of non-conventional energy services and institutions like the India Tech Excellence Foundation, the Computer Society of India and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.

Besides several sector specific awards, Gujarat ranks No.1 in the Economic Freedom Index as per the research conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. However the icing on the cake is recognition of Modi as the No.1 Chief Minister by the people, thrice consecutively in five years in the India Today-ORG MARG Survey, a unique recognition ever achieved by any CM in the country. His being adjudged as the “Person of the Year” by the readers of a weekly magazine “Chitralekha,” rating ahead of Amitabh Bachchan and many others, speaks a lot about his popularity.

A few of the awards bagged for different developmental initiatives/achievements in Gujarat during the tenure of Modi are:

• UN Sasakawa Award for outstanding reconstruction work in disaster risk reduction
• World Bank Green Awards for excellence in environment consciousness during post earthquake rehabilitation
• CAPAM Gold Award from Commonwealth Associations for innovations in governance
• Dubai International Award to Surat Municipal Corporation for Best Practices in SWM and Urban Governance
• India Tech Excellence Award 2005 for the most progressive and dynamic state in power sector reforms
• UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Award for reconstruction of a Gurudwara damaged during the earthquake
• Computer Society of India and Nihilant Technology Citizen Facilitation Award for the Best e-Governed State
• Computer Society of India and Nihilant Technology Best Service Orientation Award to Ahmedabad Collectorate’s Citizen Charter
• ELITEX 2007 - Best E-governed State Award from Government of India in January 2007