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Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj is an Indian Administration Services Officer of the 2007 batch of Uttar Pradesh cadre and a professional Para-Badminton player.
Wiki/Biography
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj was born on Saturday, 2 July 1983 (age 38 years; as of 2021) in Hassan, Karnataka, India. His zodiac sign is Cancer. He received his school education from different schools because of his father’s postings as a government official. He obtained his secondary school education from DVS independent college Shivamogga, Karnataka. In 2004, he earned a bachelors degree in engineering in Software from N.I.T. Karnataka, India.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5’ 9”
Weight (approx.): 61 kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj’s father’s name is (Late) Yathiraj L K, and he was a government servant. His mother’s name is Jayashree C S. His brother’s name is Sharath L Y.
Wife & Children
Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj is married to Ritu Suhas, and she was selected as Mrs U.P in the Mrs India contest in 2019, and she is also a PCS officer.
Suhas with his wife Ritu
The couple has a son and daughter named Vivaan and Saanvi, respectively.
Suhas with his mother, wife and two kids
Address
Gautam Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India
Career
Civil Services
Major Designations
In 2008, he started serving as an Assistant Collector & Assistant Magistrate (Junior Scale) at Agra till 2011. On 7 February 2011, he was appointed as Chief Development Officer and Under Secretary at Mathura, and the District Collector and District Magistrate on Junior Scale at Land Revenue & Disaster Management Department at Mahamaya Nagar till 05 May 2012. Afterwards, he started serving as the District Magistrate and Under-Secretary at Sonbhadra till 29 September 2012. He joined as a District Magistrate and Under-Secretary at Jaunpur on 30 September 2012. He served till 20 May 2017 as a District Magistrate and Deputy Secretary at Azamgarh. Soon, he was designated as Special Secretary and Deputy Secretary (District Not Known) till 25 October 2017. Till 21 February 2019, he served as the District Magistrate and Deputy Secretary at Prayagraj. In 2017, Suhas Lalinakere was honoured by the governor of Uttar Pradesh for his tireless efforts during the general elections in the state as an IAS bureaucrat. During the same time, he was awarded for his extraordinary services to the revenue administration by the Revenue Minister and Chairman of the Revenue board. Suhas Lalinakere started working at Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh as a District Magistrate Officer in February 2019. He was the District Magistrate of Prayagraj before joining Gautam Buddha Nagar. During the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in India in 2020, he was appreciated for containing the transmission of the coronavirus in Gautam Buddh Nagar by working day and night in maintaining corona protocols. In a conversation with a media person, he narrated his dedication towards his duties,
As a sportsman, I have learnt that there is no substitute for hard work. In a crisis, you have to be ready to work even 20 hours a day. You will get results only if you work sincerely. My teams are always alert. We are happily participating in meetings even around midnight.”
Suhas while interacting with the local people on corona virus
Men’s Para-Badminton
In 2016, Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj became the first specially-abled IAS officer to represent India in Para-Badminton Championships. Suhas Lalinakere became the first para-badminton player who was a bureaucrat official from India and won the Asian Para-Badminton Championship series in 2016 organised in Beijing, China. Hary Susanto of Indonesia was defeated by him in the final match to won a gold medal. At that time, he was also serving at Azamgarh as the District Magistrate.
Suhas while winning a gold medal in Asian Para-Badminton Championships in 2016
On World Disabilities Day, on 3 December 2016, Suhas Lalinakere was honoured for his exemplary performances in para-sports while serving as a government official by the state government of Uttar Pradesh. In Men’s Singles category at the second National Para-Badminton Championships in March 2018 held at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, Suhas Lalinakere became a national champion by winning a gold medal.
Medals
He won a gold medal in Beijing, China in Men’s singles at Asia Championships in 2016. In Badminton World Federation (BWF) Turkish Open Para-Badminton Championships in 2017, he won a gold medal at Antalya, Turkey in Men’s singles and a gold medal at Antalya, Turkey in Men’s Doubles. At BWF Japan Open Para-Badminton Championships in 2017, he won a silver medal at Tokyo, Japan in Men’s singles and a bronze medal at Tokyo, Japan in Men’s Doubles. In 2018, at Asian Para Games, he clinched a bronze medal in Jakarta, Indonesia in Men’s team. In the same year, in National Para-Badminton Championships, he won a gold medal at Varanasi, India in Men’s singles. At BWF Turkish Open Para-Badminton Championships in 2018, he clinched a silver medal at Konya, Turkey in Men’s singles. In 2019, at BWF Uganda Open Para-Badminton Championships, he won a bronze medal at Kampala, Uganda in Men’s singles. In the same year, at BWF Irish Open Para-Badminton Championships, he won a silver medal at Dublin, Ireland in Men’s singles. In BWF Thailand Open Para-Badminton Championships in 2019, he won a bronze medal at Bangkok, Thailand in Men’s singles and a bronze medal at Bangkok, Thailand in Men’s doubles. In the same year, at BWF China Open Para-Badminton Championships, he clinched a bronze medal at Hangzhou, China in Men’s singles and a silver medal at Hangzhou, China in Men’s Doubles. In 2019, at BWF Turkish Open Para-Badminton Championships, he won a gold medal at Antalya, Turkey in Men’s singles. At BWF Denmark Open Para-Badminton Championships in 2019, he won a bronze medal at Odense, Denmark in Men’s singles and a silver medal at Odense, Denmark in Men’s Doubles. In 2019, at BWF Japan Open Para-Badminton Championships, he clinched a bronze medal at Tokyo, Azamgarh in Men’s singles.
Awards, Honours, Achievements
In Administration
- 2016: He was shortlisted for Prime Minister’s award for excellent performance in Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Award
- 2016: He developed the mobile applications for undernourished children and pregnant mothers, titled Kuposhan ka Darpan and Pregnancy ka Darpan
- 2016: He developed a mobile application for helping differently-abled voters during general elections
- Soon, he was awarded for his excellent work in administration by the Revenue minister and government of UP and Chairman Board of Revenue
- At the same time, he was awarded for good performance in election-related work by the Governor UP
- 2016: During his tenure as District Magistrate at Azamgarh, he got shortlisted for Prime Minister’s award for exemplary work in PM Jan Dhan Yojna on civil services day
In Sports
- 2016: Yash Bharti, highest civilian honour of UP.
- 2016: Best Para Sportsperson award by State government of Uttar Pradesh on World Disability Day in Lucknow
- 2017: Memento presented by the president of BAI (Badminton Association of India) during PBL (Premier Badminton League) in Lucknow
- 2017: Special award by Hon’ble Chief Minister of UP for International Medals for the country and a cash prize of 10 Lac rupees and appreciation certificate.
Facts/Trivia
- According to Suhas Lalinakere, he loved his work so much that he did not get tired while serving as an IAS officer and while playing badminton. In an interview with ANI, he said,
I love my work so I don’t get tired while working also while practising badminton. Badminton is a spiritual exercise for me. It kind of field like meditation for me. Everyone has 24 hours a day,some people do, some people make excuses for that.”
- On 1 December 2016, Suhas Lalinakere was honoured with the Yash Bharti award that is considered Uttar Pradesh’s highest civilian honour. The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath represented this award to him.
Suhas Lalinakere is the recipient of the Yash Bharti, Uttar Pradesh’s highest civilian honour on 1 December 2016. He was given this award by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
- A certificate by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh was presented to Suhas for winning medals in the international championships for the country in 2017.
A certificate of honour was provided to Suhas by the Paralympic Committee of India
- His wife was also honoured during the general elections for her tireless work in voter awareness in 2017.
- Suhas’s success mantra is,
Follow your heart as disability lives in the mind.”
- The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Suhas Lalinakere for winning a bronze medal in the team at the Asian Para Games in 2018. Modi also felt proud while congratulating him on his Twitter account.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi while congratulating Suhas on winning a bronze medal in 2018
A screenshot of Narendra Modi’s congratulating Tweet to Suhas in 2018
- After completing his software engineering degree in 2004, after a year, he started studying the civil services examinations, and soon, he started preparing for it, and eventually, cleared it in 2007. In an interview with a media correspondent, Suhas narrated his UPSC inclination,
I want to thank God for this because when I used to study I didn’t even think of becoming a district collector. It was a dream come true, then I got the opportunity to participate in civil service also.”
- Suhas Lalinakere cleared his UPSC examination at the age of 37, and he is considered the first specially-abled IAS officer of India. Firstly, he was appointed to serve Agra, Uttar Pradesh as a bureaucratic officer.
- Suhas wanted to become an engineer in his teens; however, his family wanted him to become a doctor.
- As per Suhas, the parents of specially-abled children must motivate their children to achieve their goals in life. He stated in a conversation with WION media,
I want to appeal to all parents, especially those who have Divyang, son or daughter, to please encourage their children for sports and fill them with confidence that they can achieve anything if they make an effort. There would be wins and losses but they can achieve anything.”
- According to Suhas, he attained his school and college education from normal educational institutions and achieved his goal of life i.e. to become an IAS officer by studying hard. He further added in an interview with ANI in 2020 that he attained several medals for his country in Paralympics Badminton championships only through rigorous efforts. He disclosed,
I want to say to all the people, and especially the youth, that whatever you want to do in life, try to do that. Because sometimes we win sometimes we lose in life, but one should never back down from the effort. I want to say this to all the youth that I studied in normal school and college and I joined the civil services and now I am going to Paralympics.”
- Suhas Lalinakere was selected to represent India in the Paralympics in Tokyo (24 August to 5 September) in 2021.