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| Hassan Chougule receiving the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman from India’s President Pratibha Patil |
Chougule received the award from Indian President Pratibha Patil at the concluding ceremony of the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas celebrations in Jaipur yesterday.
Chougule has been in Doha for more than three and a half decades and has headed all three Indian embassy-affiliated bodies, namely Indian Cultural Centre (ICC), Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF) and Indian Business Promotion Network (IBPN) at different intervals. He is ICBF’s advisory council chairman now.
The managing director of Doha’s Emad Group of Companies, Chougule is a native of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra’s Konkan region.
Chougule, also the president of DPS-Modern Indian School, constituted the local chapter of the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) last year after receiving its membership in New Delhi from former Indian federal minister Karan Singh. The IOC, which has chapters in many European, American and Gulf countries, is considered to be an organisation having close links with the Indian National Congress which is heading the South Asian country’s ruling United Progressive Alliance government.
Last year, Chougule’s autobiography, Imprints of Life, was published.
Chougule is the second Doha-based Indian expatriate to win the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman honour. C K Menon, the CEO of Behzad Group, received the award in January 2006.
Last year, ICBF became the first overseas Indian organisation anywhere to receive the Pravasi Samman award.
