UPSC Success Story: Famous female IAS officers like Tina Dabi, her sister Ria Dabi, Ishita Kishore, among other have become role models for young women across the country to wish pursue their dreams of becoming a civil servant. However, before the Dabi sisters and others, there emerged trailblazers like IAS Smita Sabharwal who essentially paved the path for women in civil services. Keep reading to find out more about IAS Smita Sabharwal and her incredible journey of becoming one of India’s youngest women IAS officers of all time.
Born in a Bengali family in Darjeeling, West Bengal, on June 19, 1977, Smita Sabharwal is daughter of a retired Army officer, Colonel Pranab Das, and Purabi Das. Smita completed her schooling at the St. Ann’s High School, Secunderabad, and emerged as all India topper in ICSE exam in Class 12th.
Later, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in commerce from St Francis College for Women, Hyderabad, and after her graduation, started preparing for UPSC exams.
However, despite her hard work and dedication, Smita Sabharwal failed to clear the UPSC CSE in her first attempt, failing in the preliminary stage itself. But the young woman kept working hard and diligently prepared for her second attempt, and this time aced the tough exam, emerging as one of the toppers with an All-India Rank of 4, and becoming one of the youngest female IAS officers in the country in the year 2000.
She was only 22 at the time.
Over the years, IAS Smita Sabharwal has held several key postings including, serving as the Member Secretary of Telangana State Finance Commission, among others, and has earned the moniker ‘People’s Officer’ for addressing the issues of citizens by involving people. Recently, in November, Smita Sabharwal became the first woman IAS officer to be appointed to the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office, when she was appointed as Secretary to Government Youth Advancement, Tourism & Culture.
IAS Smita Sabharwal is also a popular figure in the Indian social media space, boasting over 874k followers on Instagram, and nearly 450k followers on X (formerly Twitter).
Who is IAS Smita Sabharwal?
Born in a Bengali family in Darjeeling, West Bengal, on June 19, 1977, Smita Sabharwal is daughter of a retired Army officer, Colonel Pranab Das, and Purabi Das. Smita completed her schooling at the St. Ann’s High School, Secunderabad, and emerged as all India topper in ICSE exam in Class 12th.
Later, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in commerce from St Francis College for Women, Hyderabad, and after her graduation, started preparing for UPSC exams.
However, despite her hard work and dedication, Smita Sabharwal failed to clear the UPSC CSE in her first attempt, failing in the preliminary stage itself. But the young woman kept working hard and diligently prepared for her second attempt, and this time aced the tough exam, emerging as one of the toppers with an All-India Rank of 4, and becoming one of the youngest female IAS officers in the country in the year 2000.
She was only 22 at the time.
‘People’s Officer’
Over the years, IAS Smita Sabharwal has held several key postings including, serving as the Member Secretary of Telangana State Finance Commission, among others, and has earned the moniker ‘People’s Officer’ for addressing the issues of citizens by involving people. Recently, in November, Smita Sabharwal became the first woman IAS officer to be appointed to the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office, when she was appointed as Secretary to Government Youth Advancement, Tourism & Culture.
IAS Smita Sabharwal is also a popular figure in the Indian social media space, boasting over 874k followers on Instagram, and nearly 450k followers on X (formerly Twitter).