To recognize and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organizations in India in the field of disaster manageent, Government of India has instituted an annual award known as Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar. The award is announced every year on 23rd January, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The award 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.

For the award this year, nominations were solicited from 1st July, 2021 onwards. 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.

For the year 2022, (i) Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (in the Institutional category) and (ii) Professor Vinod Sharma (in the Individual category) have been selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar for their excellent work in Disaster Management.

Following is a summary of the outstanding work of the winners of 2022 Award in the field of Disaster Management:

1. Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM), established in 2012, the Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (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.
2. Professor Vinod Sharma, a senior professor at the Indian Institute of Public Administration and Vice-Chairman of the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority, was the founder co-ordinator of the National Centre of Disaster Management, now known as the National Institute of Disaster Management. He has worked tirelessly towards bringing disaster risk reduction (DRR) to the forefront of the national agenda. 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.

They will be conferred with the Award, alongwith the awardees of the year 2019, 2020 and 2021, by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi at the investiture ceremony, to be held today evening to commemorate the 125^th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

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RK/AD/RR