Sarla Grewal (English: Sarla Grewal; born- October 4, 1927; died- January 29, 2002, Chandigarh, Punjab) was the second female officer of India in the ‘Indian Administrative Service’. He had worked on many important administrative posts under Punjab. Sarla Grewal was made the Deputy Commissioner of Shimla in 1956. She was the first woman officer to hold this post in the country. In 1963, she was appointed Secretary of the Health Department of the Punjab Government. He served as Development Commissioner of Punjab for three years from 1971 to 1974. Under this, the responsibility of agriculture and its related departments was included. Sarla Grewal also held the post of Governor of Madhya Pradesh. He worked on this post from March 31, 1989 to February 5, 1990.[1]
Sarla Grewal was born on October 4, 1927. After completing his primary education, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Honors. Later Sarla Grewal obtained a master’s degree in Philosophy from ‘Punjab University’. Here he got the highest position in Punjab University.
In the year 1952, Sarla Grewal entered the ‘Indian Administrative Service’. She was the second woman officer of India to join this service at that time. He worked on many important administrative posts under Punjab. In 1956, she was made the Deputy Commissioner of Shimla and became the first woman officer to hold this post in the country. Sarla Grewal was the first IAS officer to become the Director of Education in 1962. She was an officer. In this capacity, he performed various responsibilities of education administration from primary to high school and university level.[2]
During this time, he took the initiative to link youth programs and adult education programs in the state with business at the secondary level of the education system. She later went to Russia to study the secondary education system in Russia. He also made an in-depth study of the nature of social services in developing countries at the ‘London School of Economics’ for ten months on a scholarship from the British Council. In this education curriculum, great emphasis was laid on the importance of health education and social welfare services.
In 1963, Sarla Grewal became the Secretary of the Health Department of the Government of Punjab. During this tenure, Punjab state received four highest national awards for its best achievements under the National Family Welfare Programme. During this period, the state achieved remarkable progress and successes in the field of ‘Family Planning Programme’. During this period, a strong infrastructure for maternal and child health-welfare services was created in the state, which significantly helped in the permanent adoption of the ‘Family Planning Programme’. Apart from this, Sarla Grewal also efficiently discharged the responsibilities of social-welfare and women-welfare programs and local administration department in the state. She was also Secretary, Industries, Food and Civil Supplies and Commissioner, Home, which included police and transport administration.
development commissioner
Sarla Grewal served as the Development Commissioner of Punjab from 1971 to 1974. Under this, the responsibility of agriculture and its related departments was included. During this period, Punjab achieved significant success in food grain production. In this program, commendable work was done in the direction of producing good animals of foreign breed in the field of animal husbandry services in Punjab. This led to the formation of the organization of cooperative milk production centers of small farmers. Sarla Grewal also played a fundamental role in the establishment of three milk plants. She was Joint Secretary and Commissioner, Family Welfare since March 1974. He also served as Additional Secretary and Commissioner in the ‘Ministry of Family Welfare’ of the Government of India from November 11, 1976.[2]
Sarla Grewal had graced the post of President of many important forums, which included ‘World Health Organization’, ‘Indian Council of Medical Research’ and other organizations. He also presided over various seminars and meetings related to new research and research work being done in the direction of birth rate control. She became Secretary, Education and Culture in November 1982. During this period, special importance was given to education and technical education from primary education to university level. Special emphasis was also given to women literacy and adult education.
Sarla Grewal had given an important speech as a guest speaker at the ‘Royal College of Obstetricians’ and ‘Gynecologists London’ in 1979. In 1980, in the international seminar organized in Delhi in the context of ‘Family Welfare Program’ in India, he also gave a research speech on technical topics like maternal welfare and prenatal mortality rate, termination of pregnancy, birth control etc. Sarla Grewal represented India efficiently in various national and international conferences. He efficiently performed his responsibilities as the Indian representative in the 19th, 20th and 21st sessions of the ‘United Nations Population Commission’ held in New York in 1977, 1979 and January 1981 respectively.
On August 10, 1981, she became the Secretary of the ‘Ministry of Social Welfare’. During his tenure, he gave new direction to various social welfare policies and schemes and established better coordination among them. This included women’s welfare, child welfare and disabled welfare programmes. During this period, commendable work was done in the direction of launching important programs of the Ministry, establishment and development of voluntary organizations, establishment of National Institute for the Welfare of Disabled and social legislation. Sarla Grewal represented India at the special session of the ‘UNICEF Executive Board’ held in New York in October, 1981. She was unanimously elected Chairperson of the Program Committee of the UNICEF Executive Board in the 1982-1983 session. Under his direction, special programs were conducted for the economic development of women.[2]
Sarla Grewal initiated important changes in the field of education. Especially her role in the women’s literacy program was commendable and she did important work in drafting the new education policy. She was elected representative in her personal capacity to the Education Advisory Committee of UNESCO. He made efficient representations in many regional and international level meetings organized under the auspices of UNESCO for two years. She participated as the Indian representative in the conference organized by the ‘International Bureau of Education’ in Geneva. On February 14, 1985, Sarla Grewal became the Secretary of the ‘Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’.
On September 25, 1985, Sarla Grewal was appointed Secretary to the Prime Minister. He performed the responsibility of this post efficiently. After this she was nominated the Governor of Madhya Pradesh. Sarla Grewal held this post from March 31, 1989 to February 5, 1990.[2]
Sarla Grewal, who was a prodigious talent and had held numerous high positions, died on January 29, 2002 in Chandigarh, Punjab.