The people ridiculing this award here must have missed the complete print of this news article. Please read the the text which is underlined.
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It does not say that you must be the best among the lot, to get this award. Rather, how much you improve on your situation, that is what counts. So, a zone may not be the best among all, but the zone which has shown a significant improvement on certain parameters, might get this award.
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Having said that, I do not deny the fact that my interpretation may not be the correct one. But I mentioned what I interpret from the news item.