The Union government's National Institute of Disaster Management has appreciated the Palghar district administration's training programme for third gender persons, an official said on Thursday.

The NIDM letter, written by its associate professor Dr Ajinder Walia, said this gender-based disaster management training to third gender persons was a first for the country and it thanked Collector Govind Bodke, Additional Collector Kiran Mahajan and District Disaster Management Officer Vivekanand Kadam for the feat.