Women outnumber men in Kerala district collector ranks

Women outnumber men in Kerala's district collector ranks, with ten of the 14 districts now having women IAS officers as collectors.

The latest posting is that of Renu Raj in Alappuzha district, who will take charge on March 2 when the incumbent collector retires. Government sources said that it could be for the first time in the state that 10 of the 14 districts would be having women officials as collectors.

Two women district collectors—Thiruvananthapuram's Navjot Khosa and Palakkad's Mrunmai Joshi—had recently received the revenue awards instituted by the Kerala government for best collectors.

Also Read — Women officers played key role in Sabarimala pilgrimage coordination

DH recently reported that efficient coordination of the arrangements for the two-month-long Sabarimala Ayyappa temple pilgrimage by Pathanamthitta district collector Divya S Iyer, even as she could not go to the hill shrine premises owing to the restrictions on women in the 10-50 age group.

Among the women district collectors is Haritha V Kumar, who secured the first rank in the civil services examination in 2012. It was after around two decades that a Malayali secured the first rank in the civil services exam.

The other women collectors are Bhandari Swagat Ranveerchand (Kasargod), A Geetha (Wayanad), PK Jayasree (Kottayam), Sheeba George (Idukki) and Afsana Parveen (Kollam).

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