GANGTOK, Dec 23 � Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was awarded the Diamond State Award by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar in a ceremony held in New Delhi today.
Goa and Uttarakhand were declared second and third runner up in the categeory of best small States.
Sikkim was declared as best State in the country in the categeory of small States in overall achievements and the State was also declared best State in the country in citizen security, environment and water and sanitation categories.
While speaking on the occasion, Chamling said that the State has many on-going green programmes including afforestation, Green Mission and blanket ban on grazing, ban on use of plastics, ban on killing of wild animals,etc., which have resulted in increase in forest cover from 43 per cent in 1994 to 46 per cent at present.
