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“Dreams don’t become reality through magic, it takes sweat, determination & hardwork” –Dr.Priyanka Shukla

Doctor-turned IAS officer, Dr Priyanka Shukla has in her numerous roles initiated unique programs to ensure employment and entrepreneurship opportunities to women and men in the tribal-dominated region, implement systematic change in school education and encouraged children to complete their secondary education by building a greater awareness about social evils, increased interest in pursuing education, and better job opportunities. She strongly believes people need to become self-reliant. She emphasizes on skilling of workers. She is well-known for her honest, ethical administration and her efforts to implement government programmes at the grass root levels.

She asserts that as a woman working in a male-dominated field, she has to be conscious in dealing with people. But at the same time she maintains friendly relations with her staff. She says –“Being a woman and doctor brings a lot of sincerity and patience, plus one can empathize with the problems of others more effectively.”

Dr.Priyanka Shukla while a student of King George Medical College in Lucknow met a woman, and it was something she said which changed her life. The woman and her children from a nearby slum would visit her often, complaining of stomach problems. “Besides prescribing medicines, I would advise her to boil water before drinking it,” she says. Once when she was on a round of the slum, she caught the woman drinking dirty water. “Her frivolity made me furious. I was angry with her for not following my advice,” she recollects. “‘Why don’t you listen to what I say?’ I asked.” “Why should I listen to you? Are you a collector?” answered the woman curtly. “It was a moment of epiphany”, says Dr.Priyanka Shukla.

This wasn’t, however, the first time she had thought of becoming a bureaucrat. She was always a bright student who liked to study “mathematics, and science, especially biology”. In Haridwar, where she studied at St Mary’s Senior Secondary School, she along with her father, a government official, would often pass by the district magistrate’s bungalow. “My father would often tell me, ‘When I will make a pilgrimage here (Haridwar) in old age, I want to see Priyanka Shukla written on that name plate of the DM’s bungalow.’ My father being my Hero, those words stayed with me,” she says.

Work satisfaction matters to her the most. “I could have practiced medicine and earned good money. I became an IAS to do something different. IAS is an exciting challenging career option; it keeps me on my toes.”

She completed her MBBS in 2006. A year later she appeared for the civil service preliminary exam. Three gruelling years later, she cracked the IAS. Two years of strenuous training followed at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie and Kawardha, a small district in Chhattisgarh, where she underwent her district training. In 2011 she was posted to Chhattisgarh, first as the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Saraipali – a sub-division of district Mahasamund , CEO of Rajnandgaon, Collector of Jashpur District and then as the Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department Chhattisgarh . She has won 8 national awards in total till now which includes Best District Award in MNREGA in 2018 and Sakshar Bharat in 2017 for Jashpur, Best Zila Panchayat Award by Ministry of Panchayati Raj in 2015 and Certificate as Swachha Bharat Champion in 2014.

During her first posting in Mahasamund district, she kept a huge check on paddy being illegally transported from Odisha to Chhattisgarh because Chhattisgarh was giving a better minimum support price at which the government buys farm produce from farmers. She also ensured that more than 80 percent of the households in the sub-division got their smart cards made under the Rashtrya Swasthiya Bima Yojna

Besides the Census silver medal, awarded by the president, for ‘outstanding zeal and high quality of service rendered during the Census of India, 2011”, Dr. Priyanka Shukla has got a special award by ECI for increasing Vidhansabha voter turnout .She also got a letter of appreciation from ECI for her initiatives to increase voter participation in Lok Sabha elections 2014 and Vidhan Sabha Elections 2018.

She tells us how she led a campaign against against open defecation. Jashpur District Administration under her guidance as District Collector had started an initiative called ‘Yashaswi Jashpur’ in July 2016 to boost quality education across higher secondary and high schools. A strict monitoring mechanism was put in place to ensure better attendance in the schools. There were set objectives to achieve for every academic milestone – monthly, half-yearly, yearly, pre-board and board examinations.

She also assisted a self-help group of victims of human trafficking to open their own bakery in Jashpur district called the Beti Zindabad Bakery, it was started by 20 girls. This effort got the President’s award as well.