Iqbal Singh Chahal

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]
Nationality	Indian
Citizenship	Indian
Occupation	Additional Chief Secretary
Organization	Government of Maharashtra
Notable work	COVID-19 Management in Mumbai

Notable works

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

1. "Civil List of IAS Officers". dtf.in. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
2. "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.