GANDHINAGAR: The Union commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday sought to distance his ministry from a report which had praised Gujarat's land acquisition model, saying "it was a private study". However, the Gujarat government bagged nearly 100 awards from the PM and different departments of the central government during the past few years.

Gujarat chief minister and the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has been claiming that these awards are certificates for his good governance. As for the report that caused consternation in the Union commerce ministry, Sharma said: "The study was not commissioned by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). It was submitted to DIPP by Accenture." Sharma was reacting to the release of the report on Tuesday. The report talks about the best practices in different states, including Gujarat, and their possible application elsewhere.

It's a different matter that the 45 pages uploaded on the department of industrial policy and promotion's website begins with a note saying Accenture was "engaged" by the department for a study on best practices to improve the business environment. The note then sought comments from stakeholders and provided the name and address of a director in DIPP.

Modi's case for his governance is perhaps spurred by the awards that the Gujarat government has received since 2004, which amount to more than 285. Among these are seven Prime Minister's awards, 82 conferred by various central government departments, and 172 by well-known national and international agencies for performances in various development areas. Over the past few years, under the Congress-led UPA rule, the Gujarat government got the Prime Minister's award for best water and sanitation management in rural areas, housing development for poor urban people, and for best practices in controlling maternal and infant mortality.

In 2010-11, the Government of India's department of administrative reforms and public grievances and the department of information technology awarded Modi's office (the Chief Minister's Office) best practices award for people-oriented services.

The Gujarat Urban Development Department has bagged several central government awards for the BRTS, implementation of reforms norms, and for the seven-point charter of JnNURM. Other awards the state won include those for transportation, solid waste management, and water supply projects.

Gujarat's health and family welfare department was also honoured with several awards by the Union health and family welfare department.

Gujarat's science and technology department has grabbed the highest number of central government awards for the use of IT/ITES and satellite-based technology in public governance over the past few years. The state also got several national awards for tourism development and for best practices in the industry & energy sector from the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. The Gujarat Pollution Control Board 's (GPCB) e-governance model also got the central government's national e-governance award and two awards from the Computer Society of India. Planning Commission has also appreciated this as a best practices model. The state government also received awards from United Nations and Unesco and other global agencies for best practices in various fields.