Sujata Saunik Becomes Maharashtra’s First Female Chief Secretary

On June 30, senior IAS officer Sujata Saunik made history by becoming the first female Chief Secretary of Maharashtra.

Ms. Saunik, who belongs to the 1987 IAS batch, was appointed to the position by the MahaYuti government after the previous Chief Secretary, Nitin Kareer, retired. She will serve in this role for one year, retiring in June next year.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis jointly decided to appoint Ms. Saunik, showing their support for women voters ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. This appointment also aligns with the government’s recent launch of the Fourth Women Policy, which aims to empower women.

The official handover took place during a ceremony at Mantralaya, the State Secretariat in south Mumbai, on Sunday evening. During the event, Mr. Kareer formally passed on his duties to Ms. Saunik.

Before becoming Chief Secretary, Ms. Saunik was the Additional Chief Secretary in the State’s Home Department. She has also served as Additional Chief Secretary in the General Administration Department and other departments like public health.

Ms. Saunik is the second woman this year to take on a significant leadership role in Maharashtra. Earlier, Rashmi Shukla became the first woman to be appointed as the Director General of Police in the State’s history. Interestingly, Ms. Saunik’s husband, Manoj Saunik, is also a former State Chief Secretary and belongs to the same IAS batch.