Becoming Chief Secy a family affair

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 30

“My father not only wanted all his three daughters to become IAS officers in the first attempt, but also wished that they become the Chief Secretary,” said Keshni Anand Arora, who carried on with the family tradition as on Sunday she assumed the charge of the Chief Secretary of Haryana.

Earlier, her sisters Meenakshi Anand Chaudhary and Urvashi Gulati had served as the Chief Secretary of the state.

The family hails from Rawalpindi (Pakistan). Keshni’s parents, Prof JC Anand and Savitri Anand, were in Mussoorie when Partition took place. They didn’t go back. They belonged to a well-off family. “After that education was the focus of the family,” said Arora.

Professor Anand used to teach political science at the PU. “My father used to teach us. A number of his students had cleared the IAS/IFS. Meenakshi, Urvashi and me — we all studied political science and had it as one of the optional subjects in the civil services. There was an atmosphere in the family. We never took coaching,” said Arora.

Chaudhary was a 1969-batch officer, Gulati belonged to the 1975-batch and Arora is a 1983-batch officer. “Meenakshi and Urvashi came in the top 20s in the civil services exam, whereas I stood second,” said Arora.

Chaudhary remained the Chief Secretary of Haryana from November 8, 2005, to April 30, 2006, and Gulati from October 31, 2009, to March 31, 2012.

Their mother Savitri was a housewife. “She used to cut clippings of our news from newspapers. Parents used to believe in women empowerment,” said Arora.

Arora was appointed the first woman Deputy Commissioner of Haryana since the formation of the state and served in Yamunanagar from April 16, 1990, to July 1, 1991. Chaudhary became the first woman Chief Secretary of the state.

Arora’s daughter Shruti is an IAS officer in the AGMUT cadre, while Chaudhary’s son Maneesh is a Haryana IPS officer. Urvashi’s two daughters are in private jobs.

Arora had also taught at the PU for two years, while Meenakshi taught at MCM DAV and Urvashi at the PU before clearing civil services.

“Clearing the civil services in the first attempt was a condition put up by our father and we followed suit,” she said.