STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The district of South Salmara Mankachar received a National Award for implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana scheme in the category of State/UT having a population of more than one crore. Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani gave away the award in a prize distribution meeting held on Monday at New Delhi. In her speech, the minister categorically mentioned about the performance of Assam. She said that she had held a review meeting with the high officials of the Assam Social Welfare Department in presence of the State Chief Minister in April 2019 and at that time only 24% of the targeted beneficiaries were covered. She lauded the efforts of the department as the performance improved to cover 95% of the targeted beneficiaries.