2024-07-01 13:55:02
MUMBAI: On Sunday, Sujata Saunik, an IAS officer of the 1987 batch, broke a 64-year-old pattern in Maharashtra when she became the first woman chief secretary of the state. Saunik, who took charge from her predecessor Nitin Kareer in the sixth-floor office of the chief secretary (CS) in Mantralaya, is scheduled to retire in June next year.
The seniormost IAS officer in the state, Saunik was serving as additional chief secretary (ACS) of the home and general administration departments. Her appointment was cleared by chief minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday. At least half a dozen women IAS officers attended the function.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, the newly minted CS, who was superseded twice, brought up the gender point. “The significance of this moment is not lost on me,” she said. “However, at this point, I would like to remember all the lady IAS officers who were very deserving of the chief secretary’s post but were not considered for various reasons. I am grateful for this opportunity and I will do my best.”
Earlier, IAS officers like Chandra Iyengar, Chitkala Zutshi and Medha Gadgil lost their chance to become chief secretary and were superseded by their juniors for various reasons.
Saunik was the seniormost IAS officer in April 2023 and could have become the CS then but CM Eknath Shinde chose to appoint her husband, Manoj Saunik instead. She was superseded the second time when Nitin Kareer was made the CS in January this year.
This year, the government promised to make her chief secretary at the end of March when Kareer’s term was coming to an end. The code of conduct for the Lok Sabha polls was already in force and the file was sent to the Election Commission of India. The state, in response to the ECI’s request for three names, recommended Saunik, former municipal commissioner I S Chahal and ACS (revenue) Rajesh Kumar.
Again, Saunik’s name was not chosen, as her husband was an advisor to the CM. Chahal, who worked in the CMO, and Rajesh Kumar, whose mother-in-law was then a BJP MP, also missed out. Finally, Kareer was given a three-month extension.
Saunik belongs to a family of bureaucrats. Apart from her husband, her father C D Cheema was in the IAS and worked as Election Commissioner of Punjab after his retirement. Her brother, Gautam Cheema, is an additional DG in the Punjab police. Two of her aunts were also in the IAS: Asha Atri in Punjab and Rani Jadhav, who retired as chairperson of the Mumbai Port Authority. Her uncle A K D Jadhav was additional chief secretary (home) in Maharashtra. Her maternal grandfather Kartar Singh was secretary to the union government and another uncle Pradeep Singh was in the Indian Foreign Service.
Saunik began her career as an assistant collector in Aurangabad and later worked as the collector of Jalgaon and municipal commissioner of Nashik. Some part of her career was spent in the central government and also on foreign postings. In Mantralaya, she was the head of the health department, administrative reforms, skill development and general administration department.
