Success Story: Meet IAS Officer Sujata Saunik Who Became First Female Chief Secretary of Maharashtra

Senior IAS officer Sujata Saunik took charge as the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra on Sunday. With this, she also created history by becoming the first woman Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. Saunik replaced retired IAS officer Nitin Keer.  She will remain on this post till June 2025. In fact, she will retire next year. Saunik was earlier the Additional Secretary in the Home Department of the state.

Born in Haryana on June 15, 1965, Saunik is a 1987 batch IAS officer. While her husband, retired IAS Manoj Saunik, is from Bihar. He has also been the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. Both are IAS officers of the same batch.

IAS Sujata Saunik did her schooling and college in Chandigarh. She has a master’s degree in history from Punjab University. She had topped her post-graduation and got a gold medal. Apart from this, she has also been a TechMi Fellow at Harvard University’s School of Public Health.

IAS Sujata Saunik has worked with the United Nations in many countries. She has worked as the municipal administrator of Prizren, the second largest city of Kosovo, on deputation to the United Nations Mission from 2000 to 2005. During this time, she implemented a large number of projects for the construction of schools, hospitals, water and sanitation works, markets, and community buildings in two municipalities of Kosovo – Prizren and Obolic.

Apart from this, IAS Sujata Saunik also worked on deputation to the United Nations Mission in 1992-93 to assist in voter registration and conducting the first democratic elections in the South-East Asian country Cambodia.

Meanwhile, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) released the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2024 prelims results on Monday. Candidates who cleared the preliminary exams will be called for the next round — mains. As per the commission’s exam calendar, the UPSC mains exam is scheduled to commence on September 20.

Stay ahead with all the exam results updates on News18 Website.