Rohini P. Bhajibhakare has become the collector of Salem district in Tamil Nadu. This daughter of a farmer from Maharashtra is the first woman collector to be nominated since 1790.
The 32-year-old IAS officer till now was in charge as the Additional Collector (Development) and Project Officer, District Rural Development Agency in Madurai.
“Seeing the difficulty my father faced inspired me to become a government servant and focus on public service. I studied in a government school and did my engineering in a government college,” said Rohini who is greatly influenced by the hardship her father faced to TNM.
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The inspiration
Married to IPS officer Vijyendra Bidari, the trailblazer wanted to be a collector since she was nine-years-old. At that young age, she saw the real life struggles of Indian farmers while receiving benefits that the government had promised to them. Her dad was an agriculturalist from Solapur. He told Rohini that it was the district collector who is in charge of the official works.
"His advice to me when I told him I had become a collector was to make sure that I always put people first," Rohini says.
Making the dream a reality
Following that dream, now twenty-three years later Rohini has become the first woman collector of Salem district. The flag bearer of women power, believes that her clearing the civil service exam without taking any private coaching and becoming a collector after 170 men is a big leap for women empowerment.
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"I studied in a government school and did my engineering in a government college," she said. "The experience has led me to believe that our government schools have good teachers but are lacking in terms of infrastructure. That is something I will be addressing in Salem as well," she adds.
The futuristic
When asked about the actions she would take to deal with the issues of sanitation and health, she explained, “With the threat of dengue apparent, there is a need for additional focus on sanitation. That will be my first priority”.
Many congratulations Rohini and we hope your future plans in the district become a huge success.
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Feature Image Credit: tamil.oneindia.com
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