IAS Officers Association organised Walk the Lake

chandigarhsportsnews.blogspot.in

The Punjab State IAS Officers’ Association today organised “Walk the Lake” to show it’s solidarity with the public in combating the social evils plaguing the society besides encouraging  people to stay healthy. Retired and serving IAS officers of the Punjab cadre with their families participated in the event, which saw an attendance of almost 100 participants. 

            Mr. Rakesh Singh, IAS, Chief Secretary, Punjab accompanied by his wife Ms. Vandana Singh not only inaugurated the event but also participated in it. They were welcomed by Mr Sarvesh Kaushal, IAS, the President of the Association. The event also saw the participation of senior retired IAS Officers including Sh. Rajan Kashyap, who retired as the Chief Secretary of the State and Ms. Rupan Deol Bajaj.

            The walk started at 7-30 a.m with the ladies being flagged off, followed by the children and then the gentlemen. There was an initial flurry of excitement with some participants jogging off to take the lead. As the walk progressed and the humidity began to take its toll, many preferred to walk rather than jog. But all of them showed a sense of urgency, to outperform their fellow competitors. And this was most evident among the senior officers who seemed determined to make a point or two to their juniors. One could see retired officers like Mr. H.R Gangar and Mr. Rajan Kashyap jogging past young officers, much to the embarrassment of the youngsters. But there was little they could do as some of them couldn’t compete with their stamina and fitness.

            All the participants were cheered on their arrival and treated to refreshments to replenish the sapped energy. And then, followed the prize distribution ceremony. Mr. Rakesh Singh and Ms. Vandana Singh gave away all the prizes. Karanbir Singh s/o Sh P S Aujla got a special prize for being overall first among all the participants. In the Retired Officers (Male) category Mr. Hans Raj Gangar, Mr. B.R.Banga and Mr. B.B.Mahajan grabbed the first second and third prize respectively while in the Retired officers (Female) category Ms. Tejinder Kaur and Ms. Rupen Deol Bajaj grabbed the top positions. In the Serving IAS Officers (Male) category Mr Aravind Kumar grabbed the pole position followed by Sh. Vijay Namdeo Zade and Sh. Anurag Agarwal. In the Serving IAS Officers (Female)/wives of officers category Ms. Bhawna Garg came first followed by Ms. Namrata Prasad and Ms. Rupanjali Karthik. In the Children (under 10 years) category Pratik, Vedant and Maitreya shared the top honours while Atharva, Malavika and Ishant grabbed the top positions in the children (Above 10 years) Category.

Speaking to the Press, Sh. Rakesh Singh, Chief Secretary, Punjab, lauded the efforts of the Association in bringing all the officers on a common platform to promote awareness against social evils. He asked the IAS Association to continue to organise such events in the future. He emphasised that IAS Officers had a key role in Governance and the officers should strive to meet the expectations of the public in providing an efficient, clean and corruption free Administrative setup.

Mr.  Sarvesh Kaushal, President of the Punjab State IAS officers’ Association appreciated the efforts of the Organising Committee comprising Ms. Bhawna Garg, Mr. Neelkanth S. Avadh and S. K.S. Pannu in organinsing the event. He made a special mention of the the efforts put in by Sh. Satish Chandra, Vice President  and S. Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, General Secretary of the IAS Association in making the event a grand success. He also appreciated the efforts of all the volunteers who worked hard at the various counters set up for the event. Mr. Kaushal stated that the event is the first in a series of Sporting events being organised by the Association for it’s members. In the coming days, the Association shall organise competitive events in sports/games such as Badminton, Lawn Tennis, Chess, Golf, Bridge and Cricket.

            Mr. Kaushal also thanked HDFC Bank for sponsoring the event. The Punjab State IAS Officers’ Association presented a special memorabilia to Mr Gobind Panday, Regional Head, HDFC Bank Ltd, Chandigarh in recognition of the Bank’s contribution in making the event a success. Sh. Vineet Arora, Mr. Vikas Kochhar and Mr. Munish Arora from HDFC Bank Ltd were also present.