Chandigarh, June 26: The Punjab government on Friday appointed 1987-batch Punjab cadre IAS officer Vini Mahajan as the new Chief Secretary. Vini Mahajan took over as the first woman Chief Secretary of Punjab, replacing Karan Avtar Singh who has been posted as Special Chief Secretary of Governance Reforms. She is the only Punjab-cadre officer currently in the state and brings to the table 33 years of experience in a host of key positions in the central and state governments.

Vini is the wife of Dinkar Gupta, who is a 1987-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and serving as Director General of Police in Punjab. This is perhaps the first time any IAS-IPS couple serves simultaneously as the Chief Secretary and the DGP of a state. Punjab: Health Secretary Sacks 22 Lab Technicians Posted in Amritsar District Hospital to End 'VIP Culture'.

Vini Mahajan Appointed Punjab's First Woman Chief Secy:

Who is Vini Mahajan?

  • Vini Mahajan completed her graduation in economics from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University and postgraduation from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta.

  • A recipient of numerous academic awards, Vini became the first woman officer to be posted as a deputy commissioner in Punjab in 1995, when she took over as the Ropar DC.

  • She was pivotal in the state's success in attracting over Rs 20,000 crore new investments every year during her tenure in Investment Promotion and Industries and Commerce department.

  • In fact, it was with her at the helm of the department that Punjab participated for the first time in the World Economic Forum at Davos in 2019, and held a highly successful Investor Summit, with focus on MSMEs, in December 2019.

  • Vini served in the office of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from 2005-2012, and handled matters relating to finance, industry and commerce, telecom, IT, etc.

  • She has served in various capacities in Punjab. She was the chairperson of the celebrations committee for the 550th-anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev in 2019.

  • Vini has been playing a crucial role in steering the state government's response to the COVID-19 crisis as Chairman of the Health Sector Response and Procurement Committee.

  • Vini's father, BB Mahajan, was also an IAS officer of the Punjab cadre.

Prior to taking over as Chief Secretary, Vini was serving as Additional Chief Secretary with the Investment Promotion, Industries and Commerce, Information Technology and Governance Reforms and Public Grievances. She was part of the core team of the central government that put together India's domestic response, during and following the 2008 global financial crisis. She also participated in the global response through the G-20 mechanism. (With agency inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 26, 2020 06:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).