Government High School at Attigodu in Periyapatna taluk of Mysuru district has been selected for the 2025-26 Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar (National Award), with its transformation through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), now implemented as the VB-GRAM-G scheme, playing a crucial role in securing the honour.

The school, located under Attigodu Gram Panchayat, has emerged as a model government institution after receiving nearly ₹49 lakh under MGNREGS and more than ₹3 lakh from the 15th Finance Commission grants for infrastructure development over the past decade.

The MGNREGS funds were utilised to develop a playground (2015-16), construct a compound wall (2019-20), install a rainwater harvesting system (2020-21), create basketball and badminton courts (2022-23), and build a dining hall (2022-23), significantly enhancing the school’s infrastructure and learning environment.

Infrastructure created with the 15th Finance Commission grants includes a pipeline connecting the borewell to the playground, a modern toilet block, a dining platform, a sanitary incinerator, painting of school buildings, and a pipeline to the purified drinking water unit.

The school secured the national award after meeting the Union Ministry of Education’s benchmarks for safe drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management, rainwater harvesting and environmental sustainability. The Ministry has released the final list of award-winning schools.

Attigodu Government High School is the only government high school from Karnataka to receive the national award this year. The other two schools from the State selected for the honour are Mulkadu Ellare Junior Primary School in Udupi district and Kannamangala Higher Primary School in Bengaluru Rural district.

While 20 schools from Karnataka were recommended for national-level evaluation, 191 schools across the country were selected for the prestigious award, according to an official release.

Schools were assessed on six key parameters, including access to safe drinking water, cleanliness and maintenance of toilets and environmental conservation initiatives.

Attigodu school earned high scores for its effective segregation of wet and dry waste, rainwater harvesting, menstrual hygiene awareness programmes for girl students, and student leadership initiatives.

Headmaster Nagashetti attributed the achievement to the extensive support received under MGNREGS and from the Gram Panchayat.

Published - July 23, 2026 07:01 pm IST