30^th October 2021 – Early this month, the Indian High Commission in Ottawa announced the list of recipients of High Commissioner’s Certificate of Recognition in honour of their outstanding contribution to the Indian community within Canada. The certificate honoured those as well who have assisted in improving the Indo-Canadian relations.

The High Commissioner’s Certificate of Recognition is awarded each year to community organizations and individuals who display exemplary service for the betterment of Indo-Canadians. The awards are given on Indian national holidays such as Republic Day, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanti.

The list of this year’s recipients is as below.

1. Naseer Mehdi Khan, Montreal
2. Gurdeep Singh Sohal, Montreal
3. Rattan Jakhu, Montreal
4. Rakesh Kumar Sharma, Montreal
5. Kashyap Desai, Ottawa
6. Kumar Bharati, Ottawa
7. Shefali Adhikari, Ottawa
8. Council of Indian Societies of Edmonton, Alberta
9. India Canada Association of Saskatchewan, Regina
10. Kerala Cultural Association of British Columbia, Vancouver
11. Indian Society of Calgary
12. BAPS Swaminarayan, Toronto
13. B.N. Doobay, Toronto
14. Ramesh Chotai, Toronto

Many community organizations including BAPS were assisting from the forefront when COVID-19 second and third wave hit India badly. Locally, BAPS was converted to COVID-19 vaccination clinic and assisted in vaccinating over 20,000 Canadians.