Overthrowing Patriarchy to become an IAS Officer
[Music]
as a child
i remember having read the famous poem
stopping by woods on a snowy evening
by robert frost and the last para which
i am sure
many of you know and remember but i
should reiterate it here again
the votes are lovely dark and deep
but i have promises to keep and miles to
go before i sleep
and miles to go before i sleep over the
years
i have ingrained these values
and realize that one has to keep walking
one has to reach a destination
and one has to continue that rhythm of
life so friends let me begin by
mentioning about my story in brief
i would like to take you all to early
2000s
i come from a small town called panipat
in haryana
most of you would know that haryana has
so many positives to its credit
but we also have had the issue of being
a state
which has been predominantly patriarchal
the societal ecosystem expects the
females to performing the traditional
roles
of being a housewife or a homemaker or
at the maximum
undertake jobs which allows them to
justify the domestic front
fully this was an odd which i was also
facing during my childhood
and education days being brought up in a
middle class household
dreams tend to shrink and one may not
aim too high
from career point of view i had thought
i would join
private sector and follow the
traditional path of my family
but here i would like to share how i
decided to join civil services
i came across civil services during my
third year of graduation in sriram
college of commerce delhi university
i was already doing cs along with my
become honors
but the failing to do something for
society and choose a platform
by which i can contribute towards the
welfare of the people and society
was backing me from my subconscious and
it was my inner drive
which actually pushed me to attempt for
repairing civil services
the opportunity it gives to connect with
the masses and society and to work for
your nation
that opportunity my friends is
unparalleled
when i discuss this idea with my parents
they had all those little apprehensions
the all india services are cardo based
they were worried about service card
family life etc
but then when we had a dialogue they
finally agreed
but my father suggested me to have a
fallback career option
therefore i decided to do llp from delhi
university after my cs was over
then i started preparation for civil
services
also in the year 2004 and i also started
my job as
cs on a part-time basis in 2004 itself
so from 2004 to 2007 these three things
were moving
simultaneously in my life focus was on
civil services preparation
i was also doing llb which was a regular
course from dell university and i was
also doing my part-time job
those were the days of struggle various
choices to be made
various sacrifices to be made a kind of
self-quarantined life wherein i was
committed to my own self
i completed my llp in 2007
and i got selected into civil services
in my second attempt in 2008 with all
india ranked 13th
friends the support of my family has
been the crucial reason
and it enabled me to challenge the
prevailing societal ecosystem
then and even now i became
the first one in my family to join civil
services
and despite of me being cs llb i shifted
from corporate sector
to government to serve the nation and
society
also i am fortunate i am blessed to have
a very supportive husband
and my kids have been very much
supportive
now many of you might be assuming that
once you are selected into the ies
life becomes smooth and you attain
everything under the sun
but my friends let me tell you it was
just a beginning
of all together new challenges new
opportunities
many of which i did not even anticipate
earlier
starting from my training in 2008
my life started changing labasana
masoori
which i joined for training in september
2008
was the first hostel for me in my life
after training another challenge
came to me when the carters were
allocated
i got empty carter and was allotted
state of tripura
i joined there in june 2009 a beautiful
state
in the northeastern part of our country
having different
language different culture customs
have been different food habits and
issue of connectivity to an extent
but i took it as an opportunity of
learning new experiences
i learned bengali language i tried
adapting to their culture to their
customs
to their food habits and mingled with
the people
all this helped me during my initial
stint of more than seven years from 2009
to 2016. if i look back the day
when i clear out civil services and the
day
which i face today in bureaucracy has
been
full of experiences learnings both in
tripura and haryana
but i feel that there are various
factors which affect the public service
delivery like the political will
influences public expectations
limitations in infrastructure
in forms of resources both human and
financial
frequent transfers press from media and
the kind of connect which we have with
the citizens especially after the
digital interventions and e-governance
so there are a lot of dynamics and
equations which ultimately
affect our working and decision making
however
it is very important that rather than
giving up
we stand upright and give
our honest efforts with conviction
and determination friends i would like
to share
one example of my initial days of
posting
how i try to connect with the people
as my first posting in 2010 i was posted
as
sj ambassador in the district
a predominantly tribal village malda
para was one of the remotest
villages of the subdivision and there
were issues of connectivity
but through the regular intervention of
administration
the active support of bsf and youth we
could mobilize the working of
departments like
school anganwadi center primary health
center etc
and similar initiatives we continued
when i was admin collector
so i tried to make people overcome the
odds which they were facing in their
daily lives
but i would also mention here that it
indirectly helped me to develop my
personality
to understand the issues with more
maturity and become
a effective administrator
challenges continued along with my
professional growth
in 2016 i came to haryana on inter
cardio deportation
it was professionally a new slate for me
but my work experience at faridabad guru
gram
has been quite varied and diverse the
odds actually compel you
to learn and perform friends
many people do ask me whether i feel any
prejudice or bias or challenges
as a woman administrator or is there any
discrimination with respect
to the role as male and female
bureaucrat
well i would say from my last 12 to 13
years of
experience in government there is no
such inherent bias against a woman
administrator but
yes we cannot deny that there are
certain
issues which i would rather say
occupational hazards
revolving more around women than men
i feel that still certain postings are
considered more appropriately to be
headed by mail officers there’s always a
doubt of the people
in the ecosystem around you in your work
delivery capabilities in your
commitments which compels the women
officers to keep on proving themselves
constantly
many a times for lady officers their
family
and career progress is not in tandem
and may be rather non-harmonious with
each other
but ultimately it is the act of balance
which matters
i firmly believe that efforts to bring
in gender parity
in society need to be taken by all i’ve
always tried to take
such initiatives during my various
postings at tripura haryana and even
today
from my own example i can share that i
became the first lady
ceo or the commissioner of agatha
municipal council way back in 2012
the first lady district magistrate and
collector of bonti district tripura
in 2014 first ceo
of faridaba smart city limited in 2016
and first lady ceo of gm cbl city bus
gurugram in 2020
very recently a very important
reflection
for all of us you know so how have we
been able to face an art collectively
and how we overcame it is a response by
all of us
the response by humanity to covet 19.
india and the world today face
unprecedented challenge
in form of kobit 19. this
odd or the crisis inflicted
us and affected us all in many ways
however did we give up no we did not
give up we strive to explore
we strive to experiment to analyze and
find out a way out of this
we stood against the odd and today we
have derived the cure the vaccine
still the fight is not over and we are
moving forth
so my dear friends what do we do finally
how do we face the odd
it’s very important that you identify
what drives you
identify your purpose the courage
and persistence to keep going on is
powered by your own purpose
keep reminding yourself why you started
it in first place
and what drives you to keep moving
against all odds it is very much
important
that you have few attributes which i
believe are
determination tenacity focus
will power positive attitude friends i’m
sure many of us have seen those
determined ants
walking relentlessly and with division
focus
often we do not have a plan of you know
how
would we be facing an odd or challenge
or an adversity but we must plan
it is very important to have a
response matrix which would be giving
you options
so which we actually term a scenario
building
now what are the possible scenarios and
what is the response matrix
ask yourself three questions what is the
best that can happen
what is the worst that can happen what
is most likely to happen
so if the best happens you would be
extremely happy and satisfied
if the worst happens you are prepared
for it and you will face it
and if most likely the thing which you
thought of it happens you will accept it
with
contentment over the years you know as a
student
and as an ies officer i have felt
that we face challenge
but it is very important to determine
how do we respond
either we sink or we swim
for me sinking has never been an option
so swimming is the only way out in order
to
swim i have created a framework in my
mind which i call
n-o-e-n-n-o endure
negotiate navigate overcome
i reiterate the points here begin with
the end in your mind
identify your burning purpose recognize
the importance of today
avoid delays time is of the essence
perseverance is very important
keep doing and doing it have someone in
life for mentorship
seek help i am sure most of the
youngsters have the potential to excel
they are very confident
but sometimes seeking help is also very
important
be open to learning even though you may
know many things around you
but may not know everything under the
sun
friends keep reminding yourself of what
drives you
identify your path and achieve your
goals with your own strength
determination
consistent efforts let me
ask you if a tiger was chasing you i am
sure
you will not be looking for a
motivational speaker to guide you
what you will do you will instantly run
so we can all hear motivational speeches
and read motivational books we want
even i do that but does it end there
no things are incomplete until you
do it doing is most essential until you
practice what you know
you won’t be able to achieve what you
want in life so
be prepared to run and run fast in the
end i would mention a pros which i
always recall
love what you do and do what you love