Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat has been selected for the national-level Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar 2022. The Union Government selects only one ZP from a State for this award. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present the award to the panchayat in the virtual mode on the Panchayat Raj Day on April 24. Two innovative projects, among other initiatives have drawn the attention of the Union Ministry of Panchayat Raj for which Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat has made it to the top spot from the State. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the panchayat Kumara, is the brain behind the two innovative projects, Pustaka Goodu and Uttejana.

Pustaka Goodu is a book nest that  remain open round the clock, where books are kept in the open without any locking system and people can read them free at any time of the day. These nests have general and academic books, novels, magazines and much more. Launched in May 2021 with 17 units, the panchayat has now opened 250 book nests across the district in rural areas. Of these, four nests are in parks, two in public offices and the remaining are in bus stations/stops. Of the books, 90% are old ones, either donated by people or collected by the panchayat, and the remaining have been purchased new. The cost of creating a nest has not been more than ₹40,000. Mr. Kumara said that the purpose of opening these nests is to create a platform for rural people to use their leisure time reading books instead of spending it on mobile phones. Meanwhile, the Uttejana project was launched to offer free bridge courses through the virtual mode for Class X and second year pre-university students accommodated in government hostels in rural areas across the district. Launched in June 2021, about 1,500 students from economically weaker sections of society are now getting benefited from this. Teachers from reputed private education institutes in the district teach commerce and science subjects to the students. If one college taught Mathematics, another college teaches only Physics and more colleges teach only Chemistry and the like. With this, government school/college students will get an option of listening to teachers both in the government schools/colleges and in private educational institutions.