Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who had introduced the reward scheme, will present the cheque to panchayat pradhan Uma Verma tomorrow at the Independence Day function being held at Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district.

The panchayat will get an untied grant of Rs 10 lakh as award money, which could be spent on ongoing or new development schemes within the panchayat area.

One of the striking features for 271 households in the panchayat, spread through five villages, is that all individual households have built their separate toilets, developed rain water harvesting structures, maintained cleanliness and have best maintained public assets, including ponds, streets and temples.

The survey of the panchayat was done by an independent committee comprising PRI representatives, NGOs, media professionals, representatives of the World Bank’s water and sanitation programme (WSP) and experts.