Parveen Talha ex IRS gets Padma Sri
Parveen Talha — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.PARVEEN Talha retired in 2004 as DG, NACEN to become a Member of UPSC. She was the first Muslim lady to join the Class I Civil Service in India. She is also the first Muslim lady Member of the UPSC.And the first IRS officer ever to adorn the post.
She recently wrote a book Fida-e-Lucknow.
Writer Khushwant Singh mentions her in several of his articles like she was not liberal in giving him scotch whiskey even though she was a Commissioner of Customs.
He mentions an airport incident - "I was returning from Singapore loaded with dutiable goods like a camera and transistor-radio and dreaded having to pay heavy customs duty. Unknown to me Parveen's parents were on the same flight. I came out ahead of them and was warmly received by Parveen. The customs officers looked the other way as I was hugging their boss." Khushwant certifies that Parveen makes the tastiest kababs.
As DG, NACEN, she made NACEN a Centre of excellence - she calls it the ‘grand finale' of her exciting career - and in the beginning, because she was a lady, they were not prepared to post her in a Division; she had to meet a Member of the CBEC to get a Division posting.
A Lucknow aristocrat - product of the famous Loreto Convent, after retirement from UPSC, she is back in her favourite Lucknow - writing books and maybe making kababs and in between winning the coveted Padma Sri award from the President of India. It is a proud moment for the Revenue Service in India that she has got the Padma Sri this year in the category of ‘civil service'.
TIOL heartily congratulates Parveen Talha on this great honour.