Nilam Sawhney (born 2 June 1960) is currently serving as chief election commissioner of Andhra Pradesh. She served as the first woman Chief Secretary of the newly formed state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, from November 2019 to January 2021. She is a 1984 batch

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

(IAS) officer of

cadre. She previously held the position of Secretary of Union

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is a Government of India Ministry (government department), ministry. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, social justice and empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalised sections of soc ...

from 2018 to 2019 and before this served as the Secretary of

Central Vigilance Commission Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption. In 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the CVC. It has the status of an autonomous body, free ...

in the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

from 2015 to 2018.

Early life and education

Sawhney hails from

New Delhi, India New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. She earned her Masters of Science Physics degree with first division from

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

Career

Sawhney has served in various key positions for both the

and the

Government of Andhra Pradesh The Government of Andhra Pradesh, abbreviated as GoAP, is the Administrative division, state government and the administrative body responsible for the governance of the States of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Amaravati is the capital ...

Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh

Sawhney assumed office as the first woman Chief Secretary of

in November, 2019. She has since been known for her proactive style of

governance Governance is the overall complex system or framework of Process, processes, functions, structures, Social norm, rules, Law, laws and Norms (sociology), norms born out of the Interpersonal relationship, relationships, Social interaction, intera ...

and rapid implementation of policies aimed at

social development Social development can refer to: * Psychosocial development * Social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Sustained at ...

of the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. She has aided the creation of major initiatives such as large scale revamping of the public health systems, creation of institutional transparency for

pension scheme A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "Defined benefit pension pla ...

s through

e-governance Electronic governance or e-governance is the use of information technology to provide government services, information exchange, communication transactions, and integration of different stand-alone systems between government to citizen (G2C), ...

and e-

disbursement A disbursement is a form of payment from a public or dedicated fund. Alternatively, it means a payment made on behalf of a client to a third party, for which reimbursement is subsequently sought from the client. It is a term most commonly used by s ...

initiatives and creation of Rythu Bharosa Centres for agricultural amenities. As the Chief Secretary of the state during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

crisis, she has thus far managed to maintain one of the highest

per capita ''Per capita'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "by heads" or "for each head", and idiomatically used to mean "per person". Social statistics The term is used in a wide variety of social science, social sciences and statistical research conte ...

testing in the country in the state and large scale

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

of symptoms in the population through five rounds of statewide door to door surveys and significant decentralisation and expansion of testing facilities to keep the pandemic in check.

Secretary of Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

Sawhney worked as secretary of

from May 2018 to November 2019. While in office, she headed the group of secretaries for welfare setup by the honorable

prime minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

to drive policy framework creation towards focused goals on social welfare. She drafted policy aimed at ensuring basic human rights such as right to work with dignity and right to life for those economically and socially vulnerable classes who were pushed into or chose manual scavenging as a job, despite known dangers. Several programmes, policies and welfare measures, including the legislative and programmatic interventions, were introduced and implemented aimed at ending manual scavenging and providing alternate means of work during her tenure. During her stint as Secretary she also worked on policies aimed at eradicating

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

drug abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definitions ...

and

human trafficking in India In 2010, Human trafficking in India, although illegal under Indian law, remained a significant problem. People were frequently illegally trafficked through India for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced/bonded labour. Alth ...

proactively over the next decade through massive education, de- stigmatisation, drug rehabilitation and societal integration programs. During her term, the

was also responsible for a paradigm shift in laws relating to reservation and preservation of equality in the country, with a shift in focus to economically weaker sections, pushing through a constitutional amendment to guarantee the reservation of 10% of public sector

quotas Quota may refer to: Economics * Import quota, a restriction on the quantity of goods that can be imported into a country * Market Sharing Quota, an economic system used in Canadian agriculture * Milk quota, a quota on milk production in Europe * ...

for economically weaker sections of society.

Secretary of Central Vigilance Commission

Sawhney worked as Secretary of

(CVC) from May 2015 to May 2018. As Secretary of CVC, she played a major role in streamlining the proceedings of graft and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

charges, bringing down average times for pending cases to be completed by more than 2 years. Of note, was her work in strengthening current strategies while also re-balancing them at the same time from largely punitive deterrence focused systems to ones that focused more on preventive

vigilance Vigilance may refer to: * Alertness * Vigilance, a creature ability in the ''Magic: The Gathering'' collectible card game * ''Vigilance'' (album), by Threat Signal * Vigilance (behavioural ecology), the watchfulness of prey for nearby predator ...

, through dedicated institutional mechanisms to identify and punish the corrupt necessarily complemented by the need to deter wrongdoing and for the inculcation of ethical values in order to ensure that individuals as well as organisations act with integrity. During her term, there was notable increase in the

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

's emphasis on the importance of preventive vigilance in government organisations as well as the public outreach and awareness initiatives of the commission.

Principal Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Department of Women & Child Development & Social Welfare

Sawhney joined the Department of Women & Child Development & Social Welfare,

in February 2012 and served in this top post at the department till May 2015.

Child development and mothers` welfare

She focused on child health and emphasised the need to promote optimal infant and young child feeding practices in order to reduce malnutrition. She led awareness campaigns on the advantages of

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a Breast pump, pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Orga ...

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

and

anemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availabl ...

, leading to an improvement in infant and young child feeding indicators, as well as general health of women. Highlighting the issue of malnutrition among children during the first two years of life and permanence of the damage thus done, she led key interventions initiated at the state level under the integrated child development services which include addition of meaningful food models along with intensified health &

nutrition education __NOTOC__ Nutrition education is a combination of learning experiences designed to teach individuals or groups about the principles of a balanced diet, the importance of various nutrients, how to make healthy food choices, and how both dietary an ...

. The following schemes were run by her department during her tenure as principal secretary: * Introduction of acceptable fortified Take Home Ration for the children of 7 months to 3 years * Supervised feeding of malnourished children - identification of malnourished child is based on measurement of weight for age as well as weight for height along with medical check-up of

malnourished children Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues an ...

. * Introduction of one wholesome meal in the afternoon in place of Take Home Ration for pregnant and

lactating Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process naturally occurs with all sexually mature female mammals, although it may predate mammals. The proces ...

mothers. In addition to full meal, eggs, milk and extra oil are also provided. Regular weight monitoring and supervised administration of IFA are ensured for pregnant women. This effort also helped in increasing fetal weight and hence better outcome at birth. * Capacity building on skilled infant and young child feeding counseling through counseling courses. * In place of one Nutrition and Health Day per month, two are being conducted. One is exclusively for growth monitoring of children and pregnant women and the other is for other health services Sawhney also pushed for India wide adoption of certain key recommendations which yielded good results in the State, such as organising two Nutrition and Health days and having convergence at the grass roots level and further emphasised on the institutionalisation of the convergence actions at the grassroots level during her tenure.

Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Cooperation

Sawhney served as the Vice Chairman And Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Cooperation, Government of Andhra Pradesh from June 2011- February 2012.

Joint Secretary of Union Ministry of Rural Development

Sawhney served as the Joint Secretary at Union Ministry of Rural Development for five years from August 2005 to August 2010. During this term she also had the opportunity to be a member of the committee in the working groups for the eleventh five-year plan (2007-2012) for Social Protection Policy and the National Social Assistance Programme and Associated Programme, setup by the planning commission of India. Of particular note was her role in guiding the world's largest public housing project (by number of houses built from 1985 to 2020) under the

Indira Awaas Yojana Pradhan Mantri Gramin Aawas Yojana () is a social welfare programme under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, to provide housing for the rural poor in India. A similar scheme for urban poor was launched in 2015 as Housing ...

(IAY) (later run as

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) is a credit-linked subsidy scheme by the Government of India to facilitate access to affordable housing for the low and moderate-income residents of the country. It envisaged a target of building 2 crore (20 ...

), with more than 9 million houses (pukka) permanent settlements - modern houses built under IAY scheme from 2005 to 2010 alone during her tenure and more than 30 million built till 2020 (under IAY from 1985 to 2015 and PMAY from 2015 to 2020). She also played a major role in kick-starting one of the largest direct social benefits schemes in the world under the umbrella of The National Social Assistance Programme divided into five parts—the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme, the National Family Benefit Scheme and the Annapurna scheme in which

below poverty line Below Poverty Line is a benchmark used by the government of India to indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals and households in need of government assistance and aid. It is determined using various parameters which vary from s ...

families without breadwinners get wheat and rice. During her term as Joint Secretary, successful running and expansion of these schemes while facing the twin challenges of wading through red tape in

bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

and lackluster implementation brought these schemes to international recognition as well as catapulting the stories of implementation hurdles and challenges in the

naxalism Naxalism is the communist ideology of the Naxalites or Naxals, a grouping of political and insurgent groups from India. It is influenced by Maoist political sentiment and ideology. Inspired by Maoism, Charu Majumdar wrote the Historic Eigh ...

affected areas across India into limelight.

References

External links

Rythu Bharosa Centres for agricultural amenities

Take Home Ration

Infant and Young Child Feeding
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawhney, Nilam Living people Indian Administrative Service officers Indian government officials People from Delhi 1960 births Chief secretaries of Andhra Pradesh Delhi University alumni