Maharashtra Makes Sujata Saunik Its First Woman Chief Secretary After She Was Superseded Twice

Saunik, the seniormost Maharashtra cadre IAS, was serving as additional chief secretary (ACS) in charge of the home and general administration departments. 

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde cleared her appointment to the top job on Sunday. Her appointment is being touted as a step forward towards gender parity in the state. 

Earlier, IAS officers like Chandra Iyengar, Chitkala Zutshi, Medha Gadgil, and Jayashree Mukherjee who had been in top jobs in Maharashtra somehow could not make it to the chief secretary’s job for one reason or the other.

Saunik too was superseded earlier when Shinde had opted to appoint her husband Manoj Saunik as chief secretary in April 2023. Later she was again superseded for a second time when Nitin Kareer was appointed the chief secretary in January this year. 

The two other contenders for the top job were Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Rajesh Kumar Meena and Additional Chief Secretary (Chief Minister’s Office) Dr Iqbal Singh Chahal.

For the first time, Maharashtra will have women at the top of both the state's bureaucracy and police service. Rashmi Shukla was appointed Director General of Police for the state in January this year. 

Saunik who has more than three-and-a-half decades of experience is also a Takemi Fellow from Harvard University’s School of Public Health.