2 WOMEN ON TOP: More about Karnataka’s new chief secretary K Ratnaprabha and DGP Neelamani N Raju

Ratnaprabha after being elevated as CS (Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

WITH 1981 batch IAS K Ratnaprabha’s appointment as the chief secretary of Karnataka, the state has two women officers at the top — chief secretary and director general of police (DGP). A month ago, 1983-batch Indian Police Service officer Neelamani N Raju took over as the DGP in the state. Here below are the 10 things that you may like to know about these two women officers.

K Ratnaprabha

1. Ratnaprabha is a 1981 batch Karnataka cadre IAS, and will retire on March 31, 2018. 

2. She is the third woman chief secretary of Karnataka after Teresa Bhattacharya (2000) and Malathi Das (2006).

3. In her cadre, she worked as deputy commissioner in Raichur and Bidar, apart from serving in departments such as commerce and industry, communication and transport. 

4. She was mostly in the state except between 1996 and 2003 when she had served as the development commissioner (director equivalent) in Vishakapatnam Export Processing Zone, a post that comes under the union ministry of commerce and industry. 

5. Originally belonging to Andhra Pradesh, Ratnaprabha did her graduation in physics and chemistry before shifting her stream and completing post-graduation in two subjects — English and sociology. 

Neelamani N Raju

1. She became the state’s first woman director general and inspector general of police on October 31, breaking a glass ceiling in the state police.

2. She is a 1983 batch IPS officer and wife of former IAS officer Narasimha Raju. She originally belongs to Roorkee in Uttarakhand. 

3. In 1998, she did Wakefield Command Course under UK Police. 

4. She had a long career in Intelligence Bureau where she moved up to the post of additional director. She was the recipient of President Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2009. 

5. This 57 years old officer will be at the helm till January end, 2020.