Yet another glass ceiling has been broken. This time it is Ms. Usha Padhee, an IAS officer of Odisha cadre, who has been posted in the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security as it’s Director-General. So far, only male officers had been gracing this post. The BCAS, under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is security regulator for the civil aviation industry in India.

She is the third IAS official to have been selected for the post. A 1996-batch IAS officer, she has been on Central Deputation since July 2015. She was posted as the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Earlier She has been given the additional charge of Chairperson and Managing Director (CMD) of Pawan Hans Limited. She is the first woman CMD at the Miniratna helicopter service company.

Padhee is a graduate of Gulbarga University, Karnataka, from where she completed Civil Engineering. She has served as a sub-collector of Baliguda, Kandhamal.

She was also the additional project director (watershed) of District Rural Development Agency, Kalahandi, and then additional district magistrate of Balangir.

She has also been collector and district magistrate of Nabarangpur, Koraput and Dhenkanal Districts.