MUMBAI: Senior bureaucrat Manisha Patankar Mhaiskar caused a stir on Saturday saying a minister in Mahayuti govt did not want a woman officer to head his department, leading to her being passed over for the post. Mhaiskar, currently additional chief secretary (home), referred to the 2023 incident in an interview published in a souvenir for a literary conference of women civil servants being held in Delhi. At that time, the Eknath Shinde govt was in place.Manisha Mhaiskar’s comments have caused a stir especially since the Mahayuti govt, which included the Shinde Sena, BJP and NCP, prides itself on promoting women with its implementation of the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Laadki Bahin Yojana and the appointment of the first woman chief secretary, BMC commissioner and director general of police in Maharashtra. “In my 33-year career, this happened only once. After the govt was formed in 2023, officers were getting postings. One leader said he did not want a woman to run his department and I was passed over. What can I say?” she stated in the piece. She said the incident was shocking because gender differences in the bureaucracy had almost disappeared. Later, speaking to TOI, Mhaiskar said, “Maharashtra has been very fair to me and there has been only one exception. The fact that Maharashtra has been fair to me is not an accident. We have a legacy of social reform, and it is a very progressive state. And most importantly, the gender of the officer does not matter to the public.” She said her remarks had been taken out of context in the piece and the sole exception was highlighted. Maharashtra has a history of women bureaucrats heading key departments including home, finance, energy and housing. Mhaiskar has headed various departments including PWD, urban development, protocol, and has also been additional commissioner in the BMC. In the article, she said there are many more women in the IAS currently than the time she joined the service, and they rarely faced discrimination because of the environment of equality. However, she said women still needed to prove themselves as they were judged more harshly than male officers. “If a male officer is inefficient, he is criticised on a personal level. But if awoman officer is inefficient, the criticism is generalised to all women,” Mhaiskar pointed out. She said there were usually four categories of people: those who believe in gender differences but do not reveal it, those who do not want women colleagues, those to whom the gender makes no difference, and those who feel women will do a better job. However, she pointed out, “The public is gender-neutral. It wants a good officer, and the gender does not matter,” she said in the article.
