A brave and fearless officer who does not back out from taking risks in life, is how IAS Officer Nidhi Choudhary can be described. It is not easy for anybody to take the decision of leaving behind a stable and well-providing job as the manager of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and trying one’s luck in Civil Services. But this is what Ms Choudhary did, with strong determination and a little push of motivation from her younger sister, who is an IPS officer.
Ms. Choudhary, an IAS officer of 2008 batch, Maharashtra cadre, considers the change-over the best decision of her life. In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, opens up about her preparation, her journey, and her achievements in the service.
Making up her Mind
Ms Choudhary was pursuing her post-graduation in Jaipur when she became interested in civil services. But by then she had already been selected as Grade ‘B’ officer in RBI, and therefore dropped the idea.
But her sister motivated her to attempt UPSC, lest she regret the inaction later. “If I say that I always wanted to be in IAS, it would be wrong. In fact, I always wanted to be independent and able enough to empower girls and women in my own way.” Says Ms Choudhary
Her job in RBI was great and provided her with the perfect work-life balance that one needed. But she knew that she had the capacity to do more.
“It was a tough choice to leave RBI, but my husband supported me in sailing through this decision because he knew that my career lies in IAS,’’ said Ms Choudhary.
Preparing for UPSC
Whereas most candidates trying to clear UPSC dedicate a whole year in studies, without leaving their rooms and burying themselves behind books, Ms Choudhary was working a full time job in RBI and handling her little baby too! Her preparation strategy was very different from others.
As she disclosed: “I never had time to read all the newspapers, magazines which are studied by UPSC aspirants. Neither did I have time to prepare notes, nor could I do multiple revisions. My preparation strategy was more focused on better understanding of concepts instead of mugging up too many facts.” Her entire preparation was based on self-study as well as conceptual and analytical understanding of all events that have affected India and the world in recent times. Her post-graduation in Public Administration and her UGC-NET examination also proved to be helpful in her preparations.
Terrific Journey So Far
Ms. Choudhary considers her life-journey to be terrific, providing great moments of satisfaction. A few noteworthy experiences she shares include completing long impending land acquisition of NH-66. “Over 1100 structures wereto be demolished in 77 villages from Panvel to Indapur. This was done without any law & order issues.”
Equally noteworthy is her tenure in the tribal district of Palghar, where she collaborated with UNICEF, UNDP, NGOs and various CSR groups to improve education, healthcare and sanitation in the region. Palghar became the first district to introduce Gender Budget in ‘Zilla Parishad’. It also became first tribal district of Maharashtra to get Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. More than1500 schools and ‘anganwadis’ in her jurisdiction here were provided access to digital technology.
Other Achievements
Ms Choudhary considers achieving ODF status for Palghar as one of her biggest achievements. Her stint as the District Collector of Raigarh and handling COVID amidst cyclones, floods and opening up of economy has been very deft. “We evacuated more than 14000 people in 48 hours before the NISARGA cyclone, and this which kept the casualties to minimum. The rescue operations, relief and rehabilitation also required meticulous first hand planning,” she told Indian Masterminds.
