Wo(w)-man!

Nitin Jain

Women empowerment is at its best when it comes to Tricity. Panchkula and Mohali districts are not only headed by women deputy commissioners, top bosses of the district courts are also females. Both the sub-divisional magistrates in Chandigarh and all three in Mohali district are also women officers!

Journalist-turned-bureaucrat Gauri Prasher Joshi is the deputy commissioner of Panchkula. The 35-year-old IAS officer is the 18th DC of Panchkula and eighth woman officer to head the district, which came into being on August 15, 1995.

“An officer is an officer. It makes no difference whether you are a female or a male. Being a woman officer, I feel there’s no barrier in discharging my duties. To make gender an excuse or a reason for not doing well enough is not acceptable and I don’t think it comes in a way of your duties,” says the 2009-batch Odisha cadre bureaucrat.

Gauri, who is wife of Chandigarh DC, Ajit Balaji Joshi, feels, “Administration is a continuous process and one has to keep taking it forward”.

First choice

Promoted from PCS to IAS with allotment year 2006, Gupreet Kaur Sapra is first woman DC of Mohali since the district came into being in April, 2006. The 50-year-old had been serving as Special Secretary, Personnel, Punjab, before being given the responsibility of the coveted post last month.

“It’s definitely a matter of delight that I am first woman deputy commissioner of Mohali. For me, gender has nothing much to do when one holds some senior position. However, a woman requires support of her immediate family to be a successful officer. Managing home and office simultaneously is not a joke, for sure”.

Firm resolve

Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia was elected the first mayor of Panchkula in July, 2013. “Standing at a political position that has been since ages a male-dominated arena is definitely a difficult task, but I have been firm. My sole objective is to serve people.”

The 51-year-old first citizen of Panchkula feels being a woman she faces various challenges in day-to-day working, but she tries her level best not to let down people of her city.

Top cop 

“I feel I have never faced any challenge being a woman officer as compared to my male counterparts. Although sometimes balancing professional and personal life gets a little tough, if one has a will and dedication nothing is impossible,” feels Rashmi Sharma Yadav, DSP Cyber Crime, IRB Administration and Police Establishment Branch). 

Woman power

• Panchkula, Mohali DCs, Session Judges, City, Panchkula Mayors are all female; both SDMs in Chandigarh, all three SDMs in Mohali are also women
• In Mohali, 17 of the total 23 judicial officers are women. Kharar and Dera Bassi sub-divisional courts are also headed by the female judges.
• Two of the three mayors in Tricity are also women. Asha Kumari Jaswal and Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia are first citizens of Chandigarh and Panchkula, respectively. Panchkula’s City Magistrate Mamta Sharma and Kalka SDM-cum-Panchkula MC Joint Commissioner Richa are also women.
• Besides women IAS officers, Kriti Garg and Dr Tapasya Raghav, SDMs, the Chandigarh Administration has eight other senior women officers.
• In judiciary, there are eight women officers in Chandigarh while Panchkula has six female judicial officers.