Parveen Talha
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Parveen Talha is an Indian civil servant, reported to be the first Muslim woman to serve in any Class I civil service in India, the first
Indian Revenue Service The Indian Revenue Service (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ), often abbreviated as IRS, is a civil service that is primarily responsible for tax collection, collecting and administering Direct tax, direct and indir ...
officer to become a member of the
Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a constitutional body tasked with recruiting officers for All India Services and the Central Civil Services (Group A and B) through various standardized examinations. In 2023, 1.3 million applica ...
and the first woman to serve in Narcotics Department of India. She was honoured by 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 ...
, in 2014, by bestowing on her the
Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to
Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...
.


Biography

Parveen Talha was born in
Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
, Uttar Pradesh in India, as one of the two children (her brother, Osama Talha, who later became a leading journalist, died young in 1995), in the famous Awadh family. Her father, Mohammed Talha, was a freedom fighter and a known lawyer, a participant in the ''Jang-e-Azadi'' independence struggle who chose to remain in India when his brother moved to Pakistan during the partition. Parveen did her schooling at Loreto Convent High School from where she passed Senior Cambridge in first division and continued the college studies at Loreto College. After passing MA in Economics from
Lucknow University University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is one of the oldest public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. LU's main campus is located at Badshah Bagh, University Road area of the city with a second ...
, Parveen joined the University as a Lecturer in 1965.


Career and achievements

Parveen Talha started her career as a lecturer of economics at the
Lucknow University University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is one of the oldest public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. LU's main campus is located at Badshah Bagh, University Road area of the city with a second ...
in 1965 where she worked till 1969, the year she passed
Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...
examination. She joined
Indian Revenue Service The Indian Revenue Service (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ), often abbreviated as IRS, is a civil service that is primarily responsible for tax collection, collecting and administering Direct tax, direct and indir ...
in 1969, becoming the first Muslim woman to enter the Revenue Service. Later, she served at the Commissionerates at Mumbai and Kolkata and, also at the Central Excise Commissionerate. The next move was to Narcotics Department as the Deputy Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh, fetching her another first as the only woman officer of the Central Bureau of Narcotics, where she had the official authority to confiscate properties of smugglers and drug traffickers. After the stint at the Central Bureau of Narcotics, Parveen Talha was appointed as the Director General of the National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics (NACEN), at their training department. She is credited with making NACEN an accredited training institute of the
World Customs Organization The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Notable projects include its collaboration with the WTO on trade facilitation and the implementation of the SAFE Framework of Standar ...
's (WCO) for Asia-Pacific region. She is also reported to have introduced training modules for stopping the smuggling of ozone depleting substances. She was successful in signing a Memorandum of Understanding with
United Nations Environment Program The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on ...
, making NACEN, the only training academy for imparting training for the control of ozone depleting substmces and environmental crimes. Parveen Talha retired from the Revenue Service in 2004 as the senior most woman officer of the Customs and Central Excise and on 30 September 2004, became a member of the
Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a constitutional body tasked with recruiting officers for All India Services and the Central Civil Services (Group A and B) through various standardized examinations. In 2023, 1.3 million applica ...
. Talha was the first IRS officer and Muslim woman to become a member of UPSC. She retired from Government service on 3 October 2009. After her retirement from public service, Parveen Talha took up writing. In 2013, she brought out her first book, ''Fida-e-Lucknow – Tales of the city and its people'', a collection of 22 short stories, placed in the landscape of Lucknow, telling the stories of its women. The book was formally released by the Vice-President of India,
Hamid Ansari Hamid refers to two different but related Arabic given names, both of which come from the Arabic triconsonantal root of Ḥ-M-D (): # (Arabic: ''ḥāmed'') also spelled Haamed, Hamid or Hamed, and in Turkish Hamit; it means "lauder" or "one ...
. *


Awards and recognitions

Parveen Talha is a recipient of President's Award for distinguished service, which she received in 2000. Fourteen years later, in 2014, 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 ...
honoured her services to the
Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...
by awarding her
Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
, the fourth among the highest Indian civilian awards.


See also

*
Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...


References


Further reading

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Talha, Parveen Living people Recipients of the Padma Shri in civil service Scientists from Lucknow Indian Revenue Service officers 20th-century Indian economists Indian women economists 20th-century Indian women scientists 21st-century Indian women scientists Women scientists from Uttar Pradesh 21st-century Indian economists Educators from Uttar Pradesh Women educators from Uttar Pradesh Year of birth missing (living people)