“These” 3 women create history as they head IPS, IAS and IFS in Maharashtra

For the first in the history, three All India Services (AIS) in Maharashtra are headed by ladies, marking a reflection of women power.

August 3, 2024

At present, the state’s administration is in the hands of fully capable women officers.

For the first in the history, three All India Services (AIS) in Maharashtra are headed by ladies, marking a reflection of women power.

The names of these 3 powerful women are Rashmi Shukla (Indian Police Service), Sujata Saunik (Indian Administrative Service) and Shomita Biswas (Indian Forest Service).

Shukla, Saunik and Biswas are the first ladies to head IPS, IAS and IFS, in Maharashtra.

Let us know what is the journey and career of these women officers:

Sujata Saunik:

Sujata Saunik Saunik made history on June 30, 2024, by becoming Maharashtra’s first female Chief Secretary. She is a 1987 batch IAS officer.

This is the first time since the formation of Maharashtra that a woman has been appointed as the administrative head of the state. Moreover, this is probably the first time that husband and wife have been appointed as the Chief Secretary of the state.

Sujata Saunik’s husband Manoj Saunik retired from the post of Chief Secretary of the state last year. Before assuming this responsibility, she was working as Additional Chief Secretary in the Home Department and General Administration Department.

She will be serving a one-year tenure before retiring in June next year.

Sujata Saunik is a 2017-2018 TechMi Fellow at Harvard University’s Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. She also completed a fellowship from the Mittal South Asia Institute in 2019 on public health, climate change and disaster management issues.

Saunik, who has a long and deep experience in administration, has also written the book ‘Deconstructing the Kumbh Mela: Nashik – Trimbakeshwar 2015 – A Public Health Perspective’.

Rashmi Shukla

Around six months ago, Shukla, a 1988-batch IPS officer, was appointed the Director General of Police on January 4, 2024.

Shukla also became the first female IPS officer to hold the highest rank in the state police force.

Shukla left for the Central Deputation in February 2021 and joined as ADG of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force). Before being posted on a central deputation, Shukla had held several key posts in Maharashtra, including serving as the Pune police commissioner and director of the state intelligence wing.

When she was the head of the state intelligence department in Maharashtra, she was in the headlines for some time due to the phone tapping case. A case was also registered against her in this case. One of these cases was registered in Pune and one case in Colaba, Mumbai. But a closure report was filed by the prosecutor in the phone tapping case and Shukla’s backlog ended.

After being appointed as the Director General, Rashmi Shukla said that she will give more priority to the safety of women in the state. Law and order is very important in the state and will try to maintain it.

Shomita Biswas:

The forest resources in the state are very vast and there should be an equally strong officer to take charge of the forests.

Shomita Biswas of the 1988 IFS batch is holding the post of Principal Chief Forest Conservator, the third most important post in the state. She became the first woman officer in the history of Principal Chief Forest Conservator of the state.Shukla left for the Central Deputation in February 2021 and joined as ADG of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force). Before being posted on a central deputation, Shukla had held several key posts in Maharashtra, including serving as the Pune police commissioner and director of the state intelligence wing.