India’s first woman IAS officer dead
Mumbai, Sept 18: India’s first woman IAS officer after Independence, Anna Rajam Malhotra, who served in the Madras State under then Chief Minister C. Rajagopalachari and at the Central government, died in Mumbai on Monday. She was 91.
Born Anna Rajam George in Kerala’s Ernakulam district in July 1927, she moved to Chennai after her schooling in Kozhikode to pursue higher education at the University of Madras. She later married R.N. Malhotra, who served as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1985 to 1990.
Ms. Malhotra joined the civil services in 1951 and opted for the Madras cadre. Though the interview board sought to convince her that the Foreign Service and the Central Services were “suitable for women”, she insisted on joining the civil service.
Set an example
In an interview to The Hindu in 2012, she recalled that Rajaji was in principle against women entering public service and was not keen to post her in the field.
“He was convinced that I would be unable to handle the law and order situation,” she said, adding that she had argued that she should be given a chance to prove herself. Much later at a public meeting, Rajaji had cited her as an example of progressive women.
Ms. Malhotra, who was trained in horse riding and shooting, was first posted in Hosur as a Sub Collector. During her tenure, she refused to issue orders to kill six elephants that had entered a village. Instead, she successfully managed the operation to drive the pachyderms back to the forests.
The officer worked under seven Chief Ministers and also with Rajiv Gandhi, when as an MP in 1982, he was in-charge of the Asian Games project in Delhi. Ms. Malhotra also accompanied former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on an eight-nation tour and had served in the personnel section of the Union Home Ministry.
First computerised port
She also successfully executed the construction of India’s first computerised port Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru Port) in Mumbai as its chairperson.
Interestingly, when she joined service, the rules said, “In the event of marriage, your service will be terminated.” However, the rules were changed thereafter.
Paying tributes to Ms. Malhotra, retired Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer Santha Sheela Nair said: “She was a great lady and she was my role model. Whenever people appreciated me, they used to say my actions resembled hers a lot.”
Courtesy: www.thehindu.com
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“Full prepared..going to win,” Congress MP KC Venugopal ahead of Kerala polls
EC not functioning as a neutral institution: Venugopal
Congress MP K. C. Venugopal on Monday raised concerns over the election schedule announced by the Election Commission of India for the upcoming Kerala Assembly election, questioning the timing of the poll dates and alleging that the schedule leaves limited time for campaigning.
Speaking to news agency ANI in Delhi after the poll panel announced elections in five states and Union Territories, Venugopal said that the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) are fully prepared for the elections and confident of victory. At the same time, he questioned the pattern of dates announced by the Election Commission.
“We are fully prepared, we are going to win the elections... You can see how the Election Commission has set the dates. The first phase of elections is on the 9th, nominations are due until the 23rd, scrutiny is on the 24th, nominations can be withdrawn until the 26th, and after that, there are 11 days for campaigning,” he said.
“As for Kerala, there is Easter and Good Friday in the first week...The Election Commission could have announced the dates earlier... The counting date is on May 4th, so what was the point of holding elections in Kerala so early? What is their intention behind holding elections on the same day in Kerala, Puducherry, and Assam?... We are confident that we will win, but the people of the country are seeing the biased attitude of the Election Commission...,” he added.
He further stated that his party was ready for elections irrespective of the dates announced by the poll body.
“We are going to win the election. India's strategy has been set up. And we are all ready for winning this election. But one thing as far as declaring election, even though they are giving only for five days, we are going to win the election. We have no problem,” he said.
Detailing the poll schedule while questioning the time available for campaigning, he stated, “but you can see the pattern of date which the election commission announced. Yesterday they declared election, and today they notified us. The first phase of election on April 9th, filing of nomination will be over on the 23rd of this month, 24th scrutiny, 26th withdrawal of nomination. After 26, four plus seven, 11 days campaign.”
“As far as Kerala is concerned, April first week is a holy week. The holiday week means, Good Friday is there. Nobody will do anything on Good Friday. Easter is the big festival. These festivals are natural, you have to see that. Among the 11 days, working days, two, three days will go for holidays. Then hardly seven, eight days for campaigning in this election for candidates,” the Congress MP questioned.
The Congress leader said the Election Commission could have announced the dates earlier if there was a need for an early election schedule.
Questioning the urgency behind placing Kerala in the first phase of polling, he added that the counting date is much later.
“Which is the date of counting? Fourth May. Then what is the urgency of putting Kerala in the first phase without giving sufficient time for candidates? And putting Kerala, Puducherry, Assam together, what is the intention behind that?” Venugopal questioned.
He also alleged that the Election Commission was not functioning as a neutral institution.
“The Election commission is completely losing that capacity as a neutral player. You can see 14 of our prime minister's programs over and on the 15th they announce the election, 16th notification comes,” he said.
Venugopal further stated that such tactics would not affect the Congress’ prospects in the election.
“They think that this type of techniques and tactics, because of these techniques and tactics, UDF is going to lose, and Congress is going to lose. This is their complete dream only. This is not going to happen. We are very much confident at any cost, whether they are not giving any time also, we are going to win the election,” he said.
“But the people of India are watching this. The tricks of the election commission. To restrict the campaign, people of India are watching. This I want to bring into the notice of the nation. That's all,” Venugopal said.
The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced the schedule for the Kerala Assembly election. Polling in the state will be held in a single phase on April 9 while the counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4.
