The State of Punjab has been selected for the confering of National Award-2017 owing to outstanding performance in the I.T. sector during the Vidhan Sabha polls. The Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer Mr. Vipul Ujwal would be conferred the award on 25th January on the eve of National Voters Day at New Delhi by the President of the country. The selection of Mr. Vipul Ujwal for this award is due to the development of Android ECI App during his tenure at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar at the time of Vidhan Sabha polls in 2017. The app was unveiled at that time by the Chief Election Commissioner Mr. Nasim Zaidi. The Election Commission of India has made selections for the National Award-2017 for exceptional performance in varied fields during the polls in 7 states including Punjab. For the Special National Award category 6 officers have been chosen and the same number has been selected for the General National Award category. In Punjab, Mr. Vipul Ujwal has been chosen for the Special National Award while Mr. Ravi Bhagat Deputy Commissioner Ludhiana has been chosen in the General National Award category. The other 10 officers selected for the National Award-2017 hail from Gujarat, Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa.The Deputy Commissioner said that this app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and any information thereon can be obtained with regard to the Election Commission of India. The whole information about Punjab Vidhan Sabha polls held last year can also be seen on this app including notifications by the Election Commission and the ominations filed. He said that the availability of every aspect of information with regard to the polls in the form of an app was the need of the hour which was materialised with the help of I.T. experts. It is worth mentioning that Mrs. Sonali Giri, IAS who is the better half of Mr. Vipul Ujwal was honoured with the National Award in 2014 concerning I.T. sector. The officers had also prepared the Google Toilet Locator app in 2016 which is operating on National level today and the data regarding public toilets is being uploaded on the app by the urban local bodies throughout the country. The app was launched by the then Union Minister for Urban Local Bodies Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu. It is also worth noting that Mr. Vipul Ujwal’s efforts have resulted in starting of a novel project named ‘Samarpan’ in Hoshiarpur which has nearly 10,000 good samaritans as members. Under the project, the infrastructure in the Government Schools of the District would be improved. The project entails daily contribution of Rs. 1 i.e. Rs. 365 annually. Another dynamic project ‘Saanjhi Rasoi’ provides nutritious food at a rate of Rs.10 daily. The Deputy Commissioner initiated the project by celebrating the birthday of himself and his daughter which inspired the people to follow suit.