Anna Rajam Malhotra: First Woman IAS Officer of India

Anna Rajam Malhotra was the first woman IAS officer of India. She was from the British time period and qualified Civil Services Exam back in 1951 to become an IAS officer from Madras Cadre. Know how she achieved this feat here.

Birth and early life

Born on July 17, 1927, in Niranam village in Kerala as the daughter of Ottavelil O. A. George and Anna Paul, Anna Rajam George (née Malhotra) was the granddaughter of Malayalam author Pailo Paul. She grew up in Calicut and completed her intermediate education from Providence Women’s College. After earning a Bachelor’s degree from Calicut’s Malabar Christian College, Anna moved to Madras where she obtained her Masters in English Literature from Madras University.

Civil Service Journey

In 1950, Anna decided to attempt the civil services examination and qualified for the interview round. Back then, she did not know that she was the first woman to do so. In 1951, when she appeared for the next round of the exam, she was discouraged from joining the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) by the distinguished board which interviewed her (it comprised of four ICS officers and was headed by R.N. Banerjee, the Chairman of UPSC). Instead, the Foreign Service and Central Services were offered to Anna as they were “suitable for women.”

However, Anna was determined to get the post her rank deserved. She convincingly argued her case, stood her ground, chose Madras cadre and picked up her rank. Incredibly, her appointment order had these lines: “In the event of marriage your service will be terminated”. However, after a couple of years, the rules were changed.

Posted to the state of Madras, the first Chief Minister under whom Anna worked was C. Rajagopalachari. In principle, Rajagopalachari was against women entering public service and was not keen to post the new recruit in the field. He was convinced that she would be unable to handle law and order situations, if and when they arose. So instead of the charge of a district sub collector, he offered Anna a post in the Secretariat instead.

Training and Work

But Anna, who had undergone training in horse riding, rifle and revolver shooting and in using magisterial powers , knew that she was at par with her male counterparts. For the second time in her fledgling career, she fought for a chance to prove herself, arguing that she was equally competent to men in handling any situation that might arise as a part of her job.

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Eventually, she was posted as sub collector in the Hosur district, becoming the first woman to do so. However, gender remained an issue for some years for Anna. As a sub collector of Hosur, when she visited a village in the taluk on horseback, she was informed that the village women wanted to see her.

Over the years, Anna served under seven chief ministers. She worked closely with Rajiv Gandhi in the Asiad project in 1982. With Indira Gandhi, her tryst was brief but impressive. Given the responsibility of agricultural inputs, she had to accompany Ms. Gandhi on an eight-state tour, giving information about food production, which had declined. A stickler for rules and deeply committed to her duty, she undertook the tour despite a fractured ankle.

Marriage

Away from the line of duty, Anna bided time to finally marry her colleague, batchmate and sweetheart, R. N. Malhotra who became the RBI governor in 1985. “It was worth waiting for,” she would say with fondness about a man in whom she found “exceptional humane qualities”. Malhotra had earlier served as the Finance Secretary when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister and was posted as India’s Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund in Washington when they married

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