Iqbal Singh Chahal (born 20 January 1966) is a 1989 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.[2][3] He is the former Municipal Commissioner and Administrator of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)[4][5][6] and is currently an Additional Chief Secretary in the Maharashtra Chief Minister's office.[7] Prior to this, Chahal has served Government of Maharashtra and India in various capacities. In his initial career he was collector of Thane and Chatrapati Sambhajinagar districts,[2] later on he was Joint Secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Women & Child Development and Ministry of Panchayati Raj.[2] Following that he was also Principal Secretary in Water Resources Department and Urban Development Department of Maharashtra.[2]

Iqbal Singh Chahal
Born (1966-01-20) 20 January 1966 (age 58)[1]
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipIndian
OccupationAdditional Chief Secretary
OrganizationGovernment of Maharashtra
Notable workCOVID-19 Management in Mumbai

Notable works

edit

Chahal is widely given the credit for keeping COVID-19 under check in Mumbai.[8][9][10] Supreme Court of India and High Court of Bombay also lauded Chahal for his Mumbai Model.[11][12][13][14]

He added thousands of beds through new field hospitals, and private facilities handed over their COVID-19 wards to the government with 800 vehicles being turned into ambulances. A proactive approach was used to focus on 55 slums including, Dharavi, where a strict lock-down was accompanied by aggressive sanitation of public toilets, mass coronavirus screening and a huge volunteer effort to ensure that nobody went hungry. All positive test reports in Mumbai were routed through "war rooms".[15]

He received Newsmakers Achievers Awards in 2021.[16]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Civil List of IAS Officers". dtf.in. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Executive record sheet". Supremo - Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Mumbai: Iqbal Singh Chahal completes a year as BMC chief". Free Press Journal. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  4. ^ "BMC chief: If someone laughs at us, how do I share Mumbai model". The Indian Express. 7 May 2021. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  5. ^ RAJAGOPAL, DIVYA (12 May 2020). "New BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal must find a fix that can go viral". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. ^ Scroll Staff (6 May 2021). "Covid: Mumbai to get new drive-in vaccination centres in every zone within 24 hours, says civic body". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Chahal appointed as additional chief secretary in CMO". The Times of India. 23 March 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  8. ^ Rawat, Shivani (1 May 2021). "Off The Cuff with Iqbal Singh Chahal". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  9. ^ "COVID-19 in Mumbai: Have grip over mortality rate, says BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal". Free Press Journal. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  10. ^ "New guidelines soon, says Aaditya Thackeray after discusses crowding at vaccination centres with BMC chief". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  11. ^ Joshi, Neha (7 May 2021). "Follow BMC as model to manage COVID-19 pandemic: Bombay High Court to other municipal corporations in State". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  12. ^ Shantanu, Shashank (5 May 2021). "Learn from Mumbai: Supreme Court lauds BMC's oxygen management, asks Delhi, Centre to take note". www.indiatvnews.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Supreme Court lauds 'Mumbai model' of Covid management, asks Delhi, Centre to take note". India Today. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  14. ^ Chakrabarti, Angana (30 April 2021). "Inside a Mumbai Covid war room: 16 staff, phones that ring every minute, 'eat when you can'". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  15. ^ AFP. "Covid-19: How India's most crowded city beat the virus". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  16. ^ "26.08.2021: Governor presented the 13th Afternoon Newsmakers' Achievers Awards at Raj Bhavan | Raj Bhavan Maharashtra | India". Rajbhavan.