Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary receives national award for outstanding efforts in COVID-19 management

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 7 : The Secretary of Tribal Affairs Department and CEO Mission Youth Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary on Friday received the National Award 2020-21 for outstanding efforts in COVID-19 management as Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar.
The award was conferred by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Ministry of Personnel, Government of India at the 24th National Conference on e-Governance inaugurated in Hyderabad today.
He won gold registering first position among 231 finalist districts and organisations in the category of Covid-19 management with effective use of technology.
The National Award carries a Gold Medal, Citation and Rs 2 lakh cash. The award recognises the use of Information and Communication Technology in efforts aimed at COVID-19 management and containment.
Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary as Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar undertook a number of innovative and effective initiatives with inter-sectoral coordination and community participation.
These initiatives included COVID Call Centre and Management System, Mobile and Web Apps for contact tracing and symptom tracking, Real-Time Integrated COVID-19 Management System, Quarantine management, House to House survey, Public outreach through social media communication and Audio-Visual messaging, Home delivery of ration, essentials and medicines, Helpline for women and children, special arrangements for pregnant women, diabetics, cancer patients and other non-covid emergencies, and various other efforts.
The NGOs, volunteers and civil society organisations roped in for the COVID-19 response system played a key role.
The year-long multi-stage selection process included nominations, screening, field verifications, data scrutiny, inspections, independent public feedback, audit, interactions and third-party evaluation.
A total of 231 nominations finalised from across the country were shortlisted for presentation by the selected models. District Administration, Srinagar led by Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary was declared as Number 1 performer after presentation before the high-level Jury Committee of the Government of India constituted for prestigious National Awards.
Pertinently, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary is also the recipient of the country's highest civil services award, the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2014, National Award 2014 by ECI, National Award for e-Governance 2015 by Ministry of Personnel, National Award for Women Empowerment in 2017-18, National Award for Girl Child Education in 2019, Excellence in Governance Award 2019, Election Award 2016, Red Cross Awards 2015, 2017, Governance Award 2015 and several other accolades for his outstanding contribution as Deputy Commissioner of various districts including Reasi, Udhampur, Kathua, Rajouri, Bandipora and Srinagar.
He was also deputed to Singapore, Kingdom of Lesotho, South Africa and Republic of Georgia by the Govt of India and Election Commission of India.