Adityanath congratulates Noida DM for winning Arjuna award

Suhas secured a silver medal in the final of the men’s singles badminton SL-4 event at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 held on September 5 this year

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate Suhas LY for winning the Arjuna award, a national sports award, on Tuesday. The award has been conferred on Suhas for his exemplary performance in the field of sports in 2021.

The Gautam Budh Nagar DM became the first Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer to win a medal at the Paralympics. (HT Archive)

Suhas secured a silver medal in the final of the men’s singles badminton SL-4 event at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 held on September 5 this year. He also became the first Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer to win a medal at the Paralympics.

“Suhas’ performance in para-badminton while fulfilling the greater responsibility as a DM of Gautam Budh Nagar is a source of inspiration for young players. This has made the state proud of him,” CM Adityanath said in a statement.

The Arjuna award is India’s second highest sporting award bestowed by the ministry of youth affairs and sports to sportspersons for their outstanding performance in international as well as national events.

Suhas said that this Diwali is special for him because of the achievement. “I am honoured and very happy to have been conferred the Arjuna award. Congratulatory wishes of the CM have made my Diwali even more special. I hope to continue making the state as well as the country proud,” said the 38-year-old DM.

Suhas will be felicitated for the award by the CM on November 11 in Meerut.

He outwitted Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan in 31 minutes in the semi-final, but lost to France’s Lucas Mazur in the finals. A computer engineer, Suhas went on to become an IAS officer and has been posted as a district magistrate of Noida since March 2020.

Meanwhile, the 38-year-old has also been conferred an honourary doctorate from his alma mater National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal. Suhas pursued computer science engineering here and graduated from the institute in 2004.

“NITK is a prestigious institute and it is very difficult to get into it. I remember when I got admission here, I was over the moon and felt like it was the biggest achievement of my life. Today, being conferred an honourary doctorate at my alma mater is like a dream come true and I feel privileged to get this honor,” said Suhas.

The DM will be awarded the doctorate during the institute’s virtual convocation ceremony on November 6.