Published On : Sat, Aug 6th, 2022

Vijayalakshmi Bidari is new Nagpur Divisional Commissioner

Advertisement

Nagpur: Vijayalakshmi Prasanna Bidari, an Indian Administrative Service officer of 2001 batch, has been named as new Divisional Commissioner of Nagpur Division. Bidari is Union Public Service Commission Civil Services examination topper.

Since the transfer of Prajakta Lavangare-Verma on Central deputation, Dr Madhavi Khode-Chaware held additional charge as Divisional Commissioner, Nagpur. Recently, Dr Madhavi Khode-Chaware went for training, following which Radhakrishnan B, Municipal Commissioner, was given additional charge as Divisional Commissioner.

Bidari is likely to assume charge of the office soon. Bidari is currently serving as Controller, U R Rao Satellite Centre, ISRO, under the Department of Space, at Bengaluru in Karnataka. Vijayalakshmi Bidari’s family has five civil servants. Her husband Mallikarjuna Prasanna is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer in Mumbai. Her father Shankar Mahadev Bidari was a decorated IPS officer. He was Commander of a Special Task Force set up to nab the forest brigand Veerappan. Her mother Umadevi is a doctor by profession. Her brother Vijayendra Bidari also is an IPS officer and his wife Rohini P Bhajibhakare, too, is an IAS officer.

Vijayalakshmi Bidari has the honour of being the first person from Karnataka to top the Civil Service Examination in the history of the Civil Services in India (including the ICS). She was also the first woman from South India to top the exam. Government of Karnataka honoured her with Karnataka Rajyotsav Prashasti. She is recipient of Mahatma Gandhi Prize for Communal Harmony by Government of Maharashtra as Managing Director of Mahila Vikas Mahamandal of Maharashtra in 2008. She was awarded the Pride of Karnataka Award (2015) by the NGO Round Table India.

Bidari was Chevening Gurukul Scholar-2012 at London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom. In 2011, Vijayalakshmi Bidari was the youngest member in the e-governance delegation of the Department of IT, Government of India, to Estonia and Finland. She also served as Member Secretary of Maharashtra Government’s task force for e-governance policy in 2010. She participated in the Next Generation Leaders’ Programme held in South Korea in 2009. Also, she was a Member of State Government’s task force on micro-finance in 2008, and Member of Think Tank set up by the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra in 2010.