This year, 42 panchayats from 17 states and union territories were selected for the two categories of awards – Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (DDUPSVP) and Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (NDSPSVP).

The awards were presented by Union Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’ and his deputy S P Singh Baghel. Out of the 42 panchayats, the maximum 6 were from Karnataka, followed by Andhra Pradesh (5), Kerala (4), Telangana (2) and Tamil Nadu (1). Odisha also stood among the best performers, with 5 panchayats from the state winning the awards.

Panchayats from the Northeastern states also performed well with three each from Assam and Tripura winning the awards. One each from Sikkim and Mizoram also won the awards.

However, the performance of panchayats from the Hindi heartland states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar remained poor, with only one panchayat each from both the states winning the award. UP’s poor performance is significant as the state accounts for the most number of panchayats (57,694 out of 2,69,405 total panchayats) in the country. One panchayat each from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh also won the award. No panchayat from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh could make it to the winners list.

Speaking on the occasion, the Panchayati Raj Minister said that a particularly inspiring feature of the National Panchayat Awards 2025 is that 22 of the 42 awardees are led by women elected representatives.