End of the Old Boys’ Secretariat

With Ashwini Bhide helming the BMC, women in Maharashtra are no longer merely breaking bureaucratic ceilings but redesigning the building itself.

India has a powerful legacy of women power in the political and administrative field, and when the power is in the administrative government, the power game is different.

Take Kiran Bedi, who became India’s first woman to join the Indian Police Service in 1972, was known for her fearless approach and innovative policing techniques, and reformed Tihar Jail with a focus on prisoner rehabilitation. Or Rupan Deol Bajaj, a senior IAS officer, was the first woman to take a case of sexual harassment to court in India — her harasser was none other than ‘Supercop’ KPS Gill. Durga Shakti Nagpal, 2010 batch IAS, made national headlines in 2013 for her relentless drive against illegal sand mining and corruption in Noida as Joint Magistrate.

Then there is Rajni Sekhri Sibal, an IAS officer of the 1986 batch, is credited with pioneering the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme and has held several important positions in education, disaster management, and policy planning. Women power in the administrative space is very prominent, and politicians and senior officials understand this power well.

And now, on the last day of March, Maharashtra added another landmark chapter in the form of Ashwini Bhide, a 1995 batch IAS officer, was appointed as Municipal Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, becoming the first woman ever to head Mumbai’s civic administration. For a city of over 20 million people, managed by India’s richest municipal body, this appointment carries enormous weight. Her appointment follows her role as Additional Chief Secretary in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s office, and she succeeds Bhushan Gagrani, whose tenure ended on March 31. The trust that Fadnavis placed in Bhide is not incidental — she is widely known for her firm administrative approach and result-oriented leadership, and is considered one of the most trusted officers in Maharashtra’s current administrative structure. Bhide did not arrive at this historic post by accident. She is best known for leading the execution of Mumbai Metro Line 3, a technically demanding 33.5 km underground corridor connecting Colaba, Bandra, and SEEPZ a project that involved complex tunnelling, difficult rehabilitation issues, and land-related controversies. She served as Managing Director of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited in two separate terms, and her capacity to navigate political, technical, and civic complexity simultaneously sets her apart. Between 2020 and 2024, she served as Additional Municipal Commissioner in BMC, handling major civic projects including the Coastal Road execution, urban road planning, and internal project monitoring. This means she already knows BMC’s nerve centres — the departments, the pressure points, the entrenched interests. She is not walking into an unfamiliar institution.

She is returning to one she already helped shape. She topped among women candidates in the Civil Services Examination in 1995, and her professional development has included training at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, the London School of Economics, and Goldman School of Public Policy — a combination that gives her both the on-ground instincts of a career administrator and the global perspective of an urban governance thinker.

Daunting Task

The BMC she inherits is a body under enormous pressure. Mumbai’s infrastructure deficit — potholed roads, recurrent flooding, ageing drainage systems, and a housing crisis that haunts millions — demands both technical mastery and political courage. As Municipal Commissioner, she will oversee water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, public health, and major construction projects simultaneously. Every monsoon is a test. Every contractor lobby is a battle. Every ward office is a small empire. Her expected tenure continues till 2030, giving her rare long-term control over Mumbai’s urban transformation agenda — a window that, if used well, could define the city’s next decade. But BMC politics are notoriously complex, and navigating its internal fiefdoms while delivering outcomes for 20 million citizens will be the ultimate test of her career.

Bhide’s appointment is not an isolated milestone but the latest in a remarkable run of firsts for women in Maharashtra’s administration. In June 2024, IAS officer Sujata Saunik was appointed as the first woman Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, a post that had never been held by a woman in the state’s 64-year history. Around the same time, Rashmi Shukla became the first woman Director General of Police of Maharashtra, the two top civil services posts in the state were simultaneously held by women — the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police — for the first time in Maharashtra’s history. Sujata Saunik brought over three decades of experience spanning healthcare, finance, education, disaster management, and peacekeeping, including service with the United Nations in Kosovo. Rashmi Shukla built her reputation as a tough and fair law enforcement leader.

Administrative Resolve

The most recent example of Anjana Krishna says it all. On August 31, 2025, DSP Krishna led a team of police and revenue officials to Kurdu village in Solapur to act against illegal sand mining. As they began their work, a crowd of 15–20 people gathered and tried to stop them. What happened next surprised everyone — late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar called Krishna during the operation. In a video that later went viral, Anjana calmly asked Pawar to call her official number for verification. Someone else might have been unnerved by a call from Pawar. She was not. The controversy left behind a powerful image of what administrative resolve looks like when it wears a calm face.

And now Ashwini Bhide steps into the most complex urban administrative job in the country. What connects Anjana Krishna calmly asking a Deputy CM to call her official number, Sujata Saunik breaking a 64-year ceiling, Rashmi Shukla commanding the state police force, and Ashwini Bhide steering the BMC? It is not merely gender but the refusal to be intimidated by the weight of the office, or by the men who assumed it was always meant for them. Maharashtra is not just witnessing women enter the highest corridors of administration. It is watching them govern. The power game in administration has always been different from politics. It is quieter, more durable and often more decisive. Right now, in Maharashtra, women are playing it better than ever.

(The writer is a political observer. Views personal.)