An IPS officer, a mother, a wife, and always leading from the front, Ms. Satwant Atwal Trivedi is the perfect role model for women in our country. Besides being the first woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the state of Himachal Pradesh, she was also the first woman officer in Border Security Forces (BSF) and National Investigation Agency (NIA). She has been in service for more than 25 years now and is currently serving as the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Vigilance, Himachal Pradesh, a post which is being headed by a lady officer for the first time.
There have been many such ‘firsts’ for Ms. Trivedi, as she broke several stereotypes with her accomplishments as an IPS officer. In an exclusive interview to Indian Masterminds on Women’s Equality Day, Ms. Trivedi speaks about equality in civil services and the various challenges that come with this profession, for the women bureaucrats.
PROVING HERSELF
Ms. Satwant Atwal Trivedi was born into a civil servant’s family, her father was an IAS officer. Growing up in the Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, she completed her studies from St Bede’s College and Auckland House School in Shimla. Like many others, she, too, was fascinated by the police uniform.
She reminisced the time when she was a student: “I had a professor who used to tell me that since there was no lady IPS officer in the state and I seemed very determined, I should appear for the civil services exam, as it would be nice if the state gets its first lady IPS officer.”
These words came true in 1996 when she managed to crack the CSE and joined IPS, becoming the first lady IPS officer from Himachal Pradesh.
TESTING TIMES IN MALE BASTION
Ms. Trivedi was the first lady to serve as the Superintendent of Police at Una district of Himachal Pradesh, besides being the first woman police officer of the Border Security Forces (BSF) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi. During the 14-year central deputation period, Ms. Atwal also served at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad (2004-09). Apart from this, she also served as the Joint Secretary at NATGRID before coming back to her home cadre, Himachal Pradesh, where she got promoted to the rank of ADGP.
However, these 26 years of service as an IPS officer were full of testing times, having to prove herself often as, in her words, she was a “new species in a male bastion.” “Women often have to prove themselves in this profession and each officer carries her own journey and tests. They are questioned everywhere and it is one thing they have to deal with.”
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
She narrated a few personal experiences to Indian Masterminds. Instance no 1: Her first boss wanted her to go to an accident site where five dead bodies lay, but, before that, he asked: “Tum Jaogi? (Do you want to go?)”. Tow which, she replied: “Why not? If it was a male probationer, would you have asked the same thing to him? “He said, “No, but as you will have to pick up dead bodies, will you be okay with it?” Her reply was: “I have been trained in the same way as my male counterparts during the training, so it will not make any difference.”
Instance no 2: BSF was another organisation where she had to prove herself. “The only way to do it was by working maybe a little harder than the rest and making them accept you,” she said. At the time of her leaving BSF, she faced a lot of skepticism and questions from every corner. However, two people in her team won her heart when they said, “We never saw you as a lady officer but always as our boss.”
“This was a big medal for me!” Ms. Atwal told Indian Masterminds.
EQUALITY IN CIVIL SERVICE
Women-men ratio in civil services has increased from the past but still hasn’t reached a point where it can be called equal. According to the stats, since 1951 to 2020, only 13 percent of the total IAS officers in the nation are women.
Offering her view on this, Ms. Trivedi said, “Civil services in itself is a demanding job and at the top level, there is no denying of opportunities for any gender. However, sometime, women have to put their job before the family and commit to their duty at the fullest. This, however, is a personal choice. Also, having a supportive family matters.”
On equality in civil services, she said, “We, women, have to first feel it within oursleves. Till we take out that feeling of ‘mein bechari’ (poor me) from our head, nobody will come forward to give us respect. Women have to first give themselves dignity, and then, the world will automatically start respecting them. The last most important thing is that, women have to stand by each other and help each other in achieving their dreams.”
