Shades of pink in saffron raj

NK SINGH

Last week’s administrative reshuffle has catapulted Madhya Pradesh to a unique position. Now, every fifth district collector in the state is a woman. Of the 51 collectors in MP, as many as 10 are ladies.

This has happened for the first time in the state. The post of a collector, although not very high in the bureaucratic hierarchy, is definitely the most visible and potent symbol of administrative power.

Women officers have gained not only numerically, but in importance in the labyrinthine power structure, getting prize postings. For the first time in the history of MP, the Government has posted a woman IAS officer, Chhavi Bhardwaj (2008 batch) as collector of an important district like Jabalpur. It is her second inning as collector.

Similarly, it has posted Preeti Maithil (2009 batch) to Rewa, considered a difficult district, in her second inning as collector. Shivpuri is considered a political minefield for officers. Here the government has reposed its confidence in Shilpa Gupta (2008 batch), who is in her third inning as collector.

The state government has apparently faith in their Ladli Laxmis. As many as four out of the 10 lady collectors are into their second and third inning as administrative heads of districts.

According to chief secretary BP Singh, one reason of such a large number of women landing the coveted collectors’ job simultaneously is that many of them were due for posting. “And, of course, many of them have excellent track record,” he says. IAS officers are normally given a chance to head a district after completing six years.

Another factor behind the rise of women officers, says former chief secretary R Parsuram, is demography. The intake of women officers has gone up. In 1978, for example, ladies constituted 10 percent of total cadre strength in MP. Recently, when state service officers were awarded IAS, every fifth promoted officer was a woman.

However, it was always an open secret in administrative circles that earlier the political executive was a little reluctant in posting women as district collectors. But with times, perceptions seem to be changing.

A cursory look at the civil list shows that among the 141 officers eligible for posting as collector, only five women have been denied the chance. On the other hand, the number of male IAS officers who could not make it to collectorship is proportionately much higher.

“I never felt discriminated against because I am a woman,” says the first woman IAS officer of MP, Nirmala Buch, who subsequently became the chief secretary of the state.

But earlier many women officers preferred family life over career. Now that attitude has changed and they are willing for the hardship of district posting, even if it means staying away from their spouses in monotonous one-horse towns.

Is the so-called second sex a better performer in civil service too, as in many other fields? Only three of the 10 women collectors are promotes, bucking the trend in MP where Shivraj Singh Chouhan government is known to prefer promotee officers over direct recruits as collectors.

Another notable point about the present crop of women collectors is that 60 per cent of them hail from MP, a state that contributes less than four percent to the civil services recruitment pool.

Some of the present women district collectors are considered outstanding. Chhavi Bhardwaj proved her mettle as a corruption-buster first in Dindori, where as collector she got a case registered against her Chief Municipal Officer when he allegedly tried to bribe her.

Subsequently, as Bhopal Municipal Corporation commissioner, she unearthed a well-oiled Rs 200 crore transport racket in the civic body. She is efficient too. Bhopal received the tag of being the second cleanest city in the country during her tenure as municipal commissioner.

Rewa collector Preeti Maithil, who had earlier handled Mandla, is considered hardworking yet pragmatic by her seniors.

Hoshangabad collector Priyanka Das (2009 batch) had performed well as Tikamgarh collector and could manage to retain the second cleanest city tag for Bhopal during her stint as municipal commissioner.

Two of the promotee officers who have made it as collectors for the first time are Anubha Shrivastava (2009 batch), an old GAD hand, and Manju Sharma (2007 batch).

Shahdol collector Anubha Shrivastava is considered outstanding by many of her seniors, who describe her as hard working, honest and straight.

Ashoknagar collector Manju Sharma competent handling of complex financial issues caught the eyes of her seniors in urban development department.

It is also the first posting as collector for Anuuppur collector Anugraha P (2011 batch), Mandla collector Sufiyah Faruqui Wali (2009 batch) and Raisen collector Bhavana Walimbe (2008 batch).

Commanding every fifth district in the state, with elections only a few months away, is a moment of glory for women IAS officers of MP.

Powers That Be, my column in DB Post of 28 May 2018

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