New Delhi: The Central government on Sunday informed that Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM) and Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority’s vice-chairman Professor Vinod Sharma have been selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar for 2022 for their excellent work in disaster management.
The GIDM has been selected in the institutional category, while Professor Vinod Sharma was named in the individual category.
They will be conferred with the award, along with the awardees of the year 2019, 2020 and 2021, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an investiture ceremony, to be held this evening to commemorate Netaji’s 125th birth anniversary.
The Union Home Ministry in a release said the Government of India has instituted the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar to recognize and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organizations in India in the field of disaster management.
The award, announced every year on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary on January 23, carries a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs. 5 lakh and a certificate in case of an individual.
The Home Ministry said the nominations were solicited from July 1, 2021, onwards for the award this year.
“The award scheme for the year 2022 was given wide publicity through print, electronic and social media. In response to the award scheme, 243 valid nominations were received from institutions and individuals,” the ministry added.
Established in 2012, the GIDM has been working to enhance the disaster risk reduction (DRR) capacity of Gujarat. Through a series of strategically designed capacity building programs, GIDM has trained more than 12,000 professionals on diverse issues concerning multi-hazard risk management and reduction during the pandemic.
Some recent key initiatives include the development of a user-friendly Gujarat Fire Safety Compliance Portal, and development of a Mobile App Technology based Advanced COVID-19 Syndromic Surveillance (ACSyS) system to complement the COVID-19 surveillance efforts of Integrated Disease Surveillance Project.
Sharma, a senior professor at the Indian Institute of Public Administration and vice-chairman of the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority, was the founder coordinator of the National Centre of Disaster Management, now known as the National Institute of Disaster Management, it said.
He has worked tirelessly towards bringing disaster risk reduction (DRR) to the forefront of the national agenda, the statement said.
“His pioneering work in DRR in India gave him international recognition and he is a resource person to Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) and all Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) for disaster management. As Vice Chairman of the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority, he has made Sikkim a model State in implementing DRR, whilst initiating panchayat level preparedness plans, linking climate change and DRR,” the ministry added.