IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra was the first female IAS officer of India from the UPSC 1951 batch. Know about her educational qualifications, inspiring journey and life story…
IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra India’s First Female Officer: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Examination is one of the toughest entrance examinations in the world; each year lakhs of candidates sit for the exam to become IAS officers but only a few hundreds are able to clear all three rounds. In today’s time, if we talk about inspiring female IAS officers, there are many including IAS Tina Dabi but do you know who is the first female IAS officer of the country? We will talk about IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra, India’s first female IAS officer from the 1951 batch. Apart from being the first female IAS officer of India Anna Rajam Mehrotra was also the first female secretary of India and the second Indian woman to pass the civil services examination. Read to know about IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra Educational Qualifications, her inspiring journey and her life story…
Who Is IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra, First Female IAS Officer Of India
As mentioned earlier, IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra is the second woman to clear the UPSC examination and the first to become an IAS Officer and also India’s first female secretary. IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra is from the UPSC 1951 Batch and served under then Madras Chief Minister C Rajagopalachari and she served from 1951 to 2918 at the Centre. IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra was married to her batchmate RN Malhotra, who later went on to become the 17th Governor of Reserve Bank Of India (RBI).
IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra Educational Qualifications
Born in Niranam, Thirubvalla, Pathanamthitta in Kerala in the year 1927, Anna Rajam Mehrotra was the granddaughter of the celebrated Malayalam author Pailo Paul. Her father’s name was Ottavelil OA George and her other was Anna Paul. IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra was brought up in Calicut, Kozhikode district of Kerala and this is where she completed her intermediate from Providence Women’s College. India’s first female IAS officer did her Bachelor’s from Malabar Christian College in Calicut and in 1949, she got her Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Campus. In 1950, she gave the civil services examination and successfully cleared it.
IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra Struggle, Life Story
Calling it ‘more suitable for women’, IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra was offered Foreign and Central Services and was discouraged from joining the administrative service by the four-member-Board headed by RN Banerjee, Chairman of UPSC. Her first posting was under C Rajagopalachari in Madras State who was reportedly unsure about giving charge of a district sub-collector to a woman and so offered her a post in the Secretariat. She refused to comply and was eventually posted as Sub-Collector of Tirupattur, Madras.
Apart from holding multiple positions in the state government, IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra has also held many positions at the Centre including Deputy Secretary, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, Additional Secretary, National Seeds Corporation, Chairperson, and Secretary to Govt of India and Ministry of Education and Culture.
A Padma Bhushan awardee in the year 1989, IAS Anna Rajam Mehrotra worked closely with seven chief ministers including Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. Shewas also the chairman of Nhava Sheva Port Trust and was the first woman to serve as the Secretary to the Govt of India. In September 2018, at the age of 91, she passed away.