Outstanding Parliamentarian Award to Mani Shankar Aiyar for the year 2006

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News New Delhi - 13th September 2007

At the award giving ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the photo shows (left to right) Dr Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, Mr Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India, Shrimati Pratibha Patil handing over the award, and Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar.



On behalf of the Indian parliamentary group, the president of India, Shrimati Pratibha Patil, handed over the citation for the  Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for the year 2006, to Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj, Youth and Sports. Mr Aiyar is also the chairman of the India chapter of South Asia Foundation. The award was bestowed in the presence of Dr Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, Mr Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India and Mr Somnath Chatterjee, the speaker of the lower house of the Indian Parliament.

The award citation goes on to say “A staunch secularist and a firm believer of women’s empowerment, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar has been vociferous in expressing his views to strengthen the democratic roots of our nation. With his unflinching faith in development through democracy at grass roots level. Shri Aiyar worked for providing constitutional backing to the institution of Panchayats. He has a passionate belief in the emergence of Panchayats as creative instruments for the transformation of rural India. His tenacity and quest for learning and hard work have brought in excellence in all spheres of his work”.