History was made in Maharashtra on Sunday as Sujata Saunik became the top bureaucrat of the state. The Eknath Shinde government appointed Sujata Saunik, as Chief Secretary, replacing Nitin Kareer who retired on June 30th. She is the first woman to become chief secretary of Maharashtra.
Saunik belongs to the batch of 1987 IAS (Indian Administrative Service) and she possesses over thirty years of experience in the realm of governance and public policy with a particular focus on healthcare, education, disaster management, finance and peacekeeping.
Saunik’s academic excellence cannot be understated. She graduated from Panjab University with a Masters in History and was awarded a gold medal as she topped. She is a former Takemi Fellow in Global Health and Population at Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health.
Prior to her promotion to Chief Secretary, Saunik served in the position of Additional Chief Secretary in the State’s Home Department. Her past roles include serving as the Additional Chief Secretary in the General Administration Department, Additional Chief Secretary in the Skill and Entrepreneurship Department, Principal Secretary for Financial Reforms in the Finance Department, and Principal Secretary for the Department of Health. She has also served as Advisor and Joint Secretary to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Executive Director, Central Social Welfare Board, Ministry of Women & Child Development.
Saunik has also been involved in United Nations missions in Kosovo and Cambodia. In Kosovo, she worked as the Municipal Administrator and Civil Affairs Officer, and in Cambodia, she served as the Civil Affairs Officer and Election Monitor.
Her husband, Manoj Saunik, is also a former state chief secretary, holding the position just prior to Kareer. On Sunday, the Saunik couple made history as the first husband-wife duo to both hold India's highest bureaucratic positions.
In January 2024, Rashmi Shukla became the first woman to become Maharashtra's Director General of Police. With Saunik’s promotion, Maharashtra’s two top posts are now held by women. Women IAS officers such as Chandra Iyengar (IAS Batch of 1973) and Medha Gadgil (IAS Batch of 1983) had come close to securing the position of chief secretary but they were bypassed in favour of their male colleagues by the governments at the time.
