WALK THE LAKE

Chandigarh, August 26 : The Punjab State IAS Officers’ Association today organised the event – “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. The participation was voluntary and the large turnout showed the enthusiasm of the officers to associate with this event.

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

The walk started at 7-30 AM 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 H.R Gangar and 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. Rakesh Singh and Vandana Singh gave away all the prizes. Karanbir Singh, son of P S Aujla got a special prize for being overall first among all the participants. In the Retired Officers (Male) category Hans Raj Gangar, B.R.Banga and B.B.Mahajan grabbed the first second and third prize respectively while in the Retired officers (Female) category Tejinder Kaur and Rupen Deol Bajaj grabbed the top positions. In the Serving IAS Officers (Male) category Aravind Kumar grabbed the pole position followed by Vijay Namdeo Zade and Sh. Anurag Agarwal. In the Serving IAS Officers (Female)/wives of officers category Bhawna Garg came first followed by Namrata Prasad and 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, 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 set up.

Sarvesh Kaushal, President of the Punjab State IAS officers’ Association appreciated the efforts of the Organising Committee comprising Bhawna Garg, Neelkanth S. Avadh and K.S. Pannu in organinsing the event. He made a special mention of the the efforts put in by Satish Chandra, Vice President  and 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. 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.

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

The Sukhna Lake is a popular destination for morning walkers. Everyday hundreds of people from all walks of life frequent this place throughout the day, The serene atmosphere, pierced occasionally by the cackling of the ducks, is a perfect way to unwind yourself for the day. The morning of the 26^th of August seemed no different, quiet and tranquil.

But contrary to normal days when there is no activity in the wee hours at the Café Lake View, today the place was bustling with activity. There were banners dotting the area containing messages against social evils like Drugs, female foeticide, etc. There were others which called for Conservation of Water and Saving the Sukhna. Yet others were exhorting people to plant trees and protect the Environment.

Earlier at around 6-30 AM the place began to fill up with people sporting Red T-shirts and bright orange caps. There were registration counters where they got their chest numbers. Sporting these numbers on their chest and their back, they began chatting and preparing for a Walk from the Cafetaria to the Regulator End and back.