A decade after she survived a midnight inferno which engulfed the Kalas Mahal during Pongal in 2012 with 45% burns, Priya Ravichandran, the first officer from the Fire and Rescue Services Department, has been inducted into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
Ms. Ravichandran had cleared the Combined Civil Services Examinations – I, known as the Group-I exams conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission in 2003 and served the Fire and Rescue Services Department in which she rose to become its Joint Director (Northern Region).
The officer is also the recipient of the President’s Award for Gallantry, the President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service and the Anna Medal for Bravery. An alumna of Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Ms. Ravichandran completed her graduation in Corporate Secretaryship and post-graduation, and M. Phil in Sociology.
An informed source told The Hindu that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has given its green signal for inducting the officer into the IAS. Besides the regular candidates, who are recruited into the IAS through the UPSC (referred to as regular recruits or RR), officers from the State cadre are also selected to be inducted into the IAS based on their performance during their career, reputation, among others.
Ms. Ravichandran was the first woman officer inducted into the Fire and Rescue Services in Tamil Nadu and would be the first from the Fire and Rescue Services to be inducted into the IAS. On January 15, 2012, as a Divisional Fire Officer, she led a team of personnel into the Kalas Mahal to put out a fire, that broke out on the premises. She along with two others survived but a leading fireman succumbed.
