Uzbekistan's sanitation and public utilities enterprises began accepting applications on September 1 for the Defender of Nature's Harmony competition, the Waste Management Agency announced.
The award recognizes long-serving employees of sanitation companies who handle waste collection, transport, disposal and sorting, as well as staff of municipal claening departments who carry out cleaning and maintenance work. The 100 winning employees will have their children's or grandchildren's university tuition covered, provided they have been admitted to a public university.
The competition was established under a presidential decree in 2024, with one of its central goals being to honor communal cleaning workers who have logged at least 10 years of dedicated, effective service. In 2025, tuition payments covered through the program totaled 916.718 million soums.
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