Women truly storm male bastions in Puducherry

There is a silent revolution of sorts taking place in the Union Territory of Puducherry. With India’s first woman IPS officer Dr Kiran Bedi landing there two years ago as Lt Governor, women are increasing making their presence felt both in administration and in the law and order department.

The yesteryear Iron Lady of Indian police force pulled in more women to head top and crucial posts in the UT on the eastern coast. With Sundari Nanda, another lady IPS officer taking over as ADGP of Puducherry recently, the wheel of women power has turned a full circle.

The SSP in charge of the UT’s police force is a woman, Apoorva Gupta. The SP of Puducherry city is also another lady officer, Dr Rachana Singh. The social welfare department is headed by its secretary, Alice Vaz. The Income Tax Principal Commissioner is also a woman, Jahanzeb Akthar. The Assistant Commandant of the Coast Guard, Akshitha Sharma, is the first woman to join the Indian Coast S.Sundari Nanda, who took charge as ADGP just a week ago, is a 1988 batch IPS officer. She was welcomed into Puducherry Police Headquarters with a fitting guard of honour. These women are turning role models for aspiring young women who would love to excel in the armed and administrative services.

Jahanzeb Akthar is from the 1989 batch of Indian Revenue Service. She was posted in Puducherry as Income Tax Principal Commissioner in October last. Ever since, she has had an enviable track record of collecting the maximum revenue for the accounting year 2017-18. While Rs 462 cr was collected as revenue in the previous year, the revenue collected under Jahanzeb’s hawish eyes has crossed Rs 547 cr by now. She is credited with exposing several cases of tax evasion and tax fraud. She also managed to net several evaders who had been slipping through over the years.

Apoorva Gupta, a 2013 batch IPS officer, landed in Puducherry last June as the SP and within a month took over as SSP -- Senior Superintendent of Police, Police Headquarters. From April this year, she has also been given charge of law and order. Gupta has brought in sweeping changes in women’s education with training in self-defence incorporated into their stream of study. Her perseverance has come in for a lot of praise from Kiran Bedi.

There is also a strong presence of women in the Assembly.The 30-member Assembly has four women MLAs.