Kolkata, Apr 23 (PTI) West Bengal government's 'Utkarsh Bangla' scheme, aiming to create a pool of skilled candidates industry ready, on Tuesday was awarded the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) award of the United Nations, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

"Out of 1062 nominations in 18 categories from all over the world, #UtkarshBangla emerged No 1 in the Capacity Building category to win this prestigious award of @WSISprocess #wsis2019," she tweeted.

WSIS Prizes is an international contest to create an effective mechanism to evaluate and recognise individuals, governments and private bodies for outstanding success in implementing development oriented strategies that leverage the power of ICTs as an enabler of the development.

The West Bengal government had received another UN award in 2017 for its 'Kanyashree' project, a targeted conditional cash transfer scheme aimed at promoting education among girls.

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