The 10th Civil Services Awards had Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stamp all over them. The way awardees have been chosen, it is clear that the Modi government worked hard to select the performers from the field. Modi assigned the job to 677 District Collectors to implement his four flagship programmes— Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Swachh Bharat (Gramin), Swachh Vidalaya and Soil Health Card. The awards were given in three groups, comprising Other States (consisting more than 500 districts), Hills and North East States (more than 100 districts) and Union Territories. The districts were selected following a tough cross-checking system laid down by the PMO. Phone calls were made to direct beneficiaries and two officials were sent to do a field study. The message was loud and clear, for any programme to reach the people, district collector was the nodal point; they were the real implementers. The award comprises a trophy, a scroll and an incentive of `10 lakh to the district.