Marking a milestone for women in the police force, Karnataka, for the first time, appointed a woman as the state’s police chief.
Meet Veteran IPS officer, Neelamani N Raju, the first woman Director General and Inspector General of Police of Karnataka.
While State home minister R Ramalinga Reddy announced the appointment of the 57-year-old as the new director general and inspector general of police (DG-IGP), Chief Minister Siddaramaiah congratulated her by tweeting, “Congratulations to Karnataka’s first woman DG-IGP Neelamani N Raju on her appointment. Wish her a successful tenure in the post.”
Here’s all you need to know about DG-IGP Neelamani N Raju:
- While most states consider the post of DGP as the top police post, it is for the first time that a unique post like director general and inspector general of police has been created in Karnataka.
- 57-year-old IPS officer, Neelamani N Raju, is a 1983 batch IPS officer of the Karnataka cadre.
- She has worked for over 23 years in various central deputations and in Karnataka for over 10 years.
- After serving as Director General of Police, Internal Security, she assumed office and took charge from former state police chief Rupak Kumar Dutta, who retired from service on Tuesday.
- Before her recent stint, Neelamani N Raju also served as the DGP of Fire and Emergency Services, Chief of Home Guards, Civil Defence and the State Disaster Response force.
- In 1985, soon after her confirmation, she served as the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Bengaluru Rural district.
- She also served as a secretary in the embassy of India in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- She has served in central intelligence as the Joint Director of the Intelligence Bureau before returning to Karnataka in 2016.
- While the state had only six sanctioned DGP posts till 2016, they wrote personally to the Centre requesting it to sanction one more position for Neelamani Raju. After the sanction was approved, she was appointed the DGP of the Internal Security Division in May 2016.
- Apart from being an Intelligence Bureau veteran, Neelamani N Raju is currently the highest-ranking officer in the state police department after the retirement of former DG and IGP RK Dutta.
- She will serve as the state police chief for over two years and will retire in January 2020.
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As per tradition, the senior-most officer becomes the chief of police. Neelamani Raju competed with Director General of CID HC Kishore Chandra and DGP of the state Anti-Corruption Bureau MN Reddi for the post before emerging victorious.
When asked about the challenges she is likely to face heading the Karnataka police, given the fact that she has served for a relatively longer time outside the state, she told Livemint, “Length of experience is not so important as the intensity of the experience.”
Speaking to the publication about her title as the first woman DG & IGP of the state, she said, “Honestly speaking, I never saw myself as a woman officer. I have always treated myself as an officer, male or female question does not arise.”
She also emphasised the need to balance the gender ratio and encourage more women to join the police force. She recollected how she was one among the only three women officers who started service in the state in 1985.
She aims to bridge the existing gap between the police and public. “There has been a lot of change, but definitely a lot more has to change because I want the police to be friendly with all citizens,” she told HT.
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