In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Delhi Government on Tuesday conferred the ‘Chief Minister’s Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Governance and Public Service Delivery 2026’ on 35 officials, marking a major push towards administrative reforms and recognition of public service.
The awards were presented on Civil Services Day by Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who commended the role of civil servants in strengthening governance and ensuring efficient service delivery.
Organised by the Administrative Reforms Department, the event recognised officials for innovation and citizen-centric initiatives. Awardees received medals and commendation certificates, and the government announced that the awards will now be held annually.
The selection process involved a high-level committee led by the Chief Secretary, which evaluated nominations based on parameters such as innovation, emergency response and digital governance improvements.
Among those honoured in the first category were Veditha Reddy (Directorate of Education), Sunny K Singh, Ajay Kumar, Kumar Abhishek and Vibhav Shukla (Revenue Department), Dr Ajay Kumar Bisht (Services Department), DB Gupta (Planning Department), Pradeep Tayal (General Administration Department), Sanjeev Gosain (Food and Civil Supplies) and Arvind Kumar (Labour Department).
In the second category, awardees included Dr Munisha Agrawal (Health and Family Welfare), Dr Praveen Kumar (A&U Tibbia College), Krishna Kumar Singh (Public Works Department), Ravindra Kumar (Irrigation and Flood Control), K Murugan (IT Department), Manmeet Singh Walia (General Administration), Lata Kumari Negi (Women and Child Development), Dr Chetna Anand (Environment Department), Deepak Chaudhary (PWD) and Manoj Singh (Tihar Jail).
The third category saw honours for Shurbir Singh (DTL), Rupesh Kumar Thakur (Urban Development/DUSIB), Jitendra Yadav (MCD), Dr K Mahesh (Delhi Khadi and Village Industries Board), Dr Tapasya Raghav (Health), Harminder Singh (NDMC), Kailash Chand Meena (DJB), Dr Amit Kumar Jain (DMRC), Satish (NDMC) and Bablu (Environment Department).
In the fourth category, Shashi Kant Sharma (General Administration Department), Geeta Ranjan (Finance), Deepa Pasi (Social Welfare), Bharat Lal (General Administration) and Jai Prakash Manjhi (Food and Civil Supplies) were also felicitated.
Addressing the gathering, Sandhu emphasised that public trust remains the cornerstone of civil services. “The true test of governance lies in how effectively and sensitively services reach the last person,” he said, urging officials to be more accountable, technology-driven and result-oriented.
Chief Minister Gupta described civil service as a commitment to nation-building, stating that officers are the “backbone of governance.” “Reaching the last mile is our goal, and initiatives like these will encourage innovation and strengthen administrative efficiency,” she said.
The initiative aims to promote excellence, encourage innovation and strengthen Delhi’s governance framework through recognition of outstanding public service.
