North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) organised the Nagaland State-Level Painting Competition on Energy Conservation 2026 at The Oriental Grand Hotel, Kohima, on November 11, with 100 shortlisted students from across the State participating.
Organised under the National Campaign on Energy Conservation, initiated by the Ministry of Power and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), the competition aimed to promote awareness among students on energy efficiency and responsible energy consumption.
A total of 1,860 students from 56 schools participated in the preliminary round under two categories—Group A (Classes V to VII) and Group B (Classes VIII to X).
The programme was attended by Director, New and Renewable Energy, James Khala as chief guest, and Additional Director, Directorate of Education, Dinabondhu Panda as guest of honour. General Manager, NEEPCO and nodal officer of the competition, N. Khogendra Meitei highlighted the importance of engaging young people in energy conservation. He informed that the national competition had been conducted since 2005, with over 80 lakh students from around 1.10 lakh schools participating last year.
In Group A, Issina Rangkau of Little Star Higher Secondary School secured the first prize, followed by Jasper Varay of EMBER Art Academy and Hardik Khemani of Holy Cross Higher Secondary School in second and third positions respectively.
In Group B, Anamika Ghose of Chitrakala School of Fine Arts secured the first prize, followed by Smiti Debnath of PM Shri Kendriya Vidyalaya and Lhuvese Medeo of Government High School.
All 100 shortlisted students received an honorarium of Rs.2,000 each and a smartwatch. The first, second and third prize winners in each category received Rs.50,000, Rs.30,000 and Rs.20,000 respectively, while the next 10 best entries in each category received Rs.7,500 each.
The state-level winners will represent Nagaland at the national competition in New Delhi on December 11. National winners will be felicitated by the President of India on December 14, observed as National Energy Conservation Day. National-level prizes include cash awards of Rs.1 lakh, Rs.50,000 and Rs.30,000 for the top three positions in each group.
