GuwahatiI: Dr Varnali Deka, a 2009-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has become the first woman IAS officer from Assam to be empaneled as joint secretary or equivalent to the Government of India.Before joining the civil services, Deka worked with Tata Consultancy Services and ANZ Bank. She had secured All India Rank 82 for the IPS and Rank 16 for the IAS, making her the first Assamese woman to qualify for both services. She holds a BTech in Computer Science, MBA, LLB and a PhD in Commerce. Her doctoral research examined the impact of the Aspirational Districts Programme on entrepreneurship in the Northeast.The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), in an information note issued on August 29, empanelled Deka for the Joint Secretary-level post at the Government of India.Deka, who was Commissioner and Secretary, General Administration Department, Assam, before proceeding on central deputation in August 2025, is currently posted as Director in the Union ministry of tribal affairs.At the ministry, she oversees the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan, a flagship programme with a budgetary allocation of Rs 79,156 crore covering 25 interventions across 17 ministries and more than five crore tribal beneficiaries in 63,843 villages. She also heads divisions dealing with grants under Article 275(1), tribal health, and monitoring, evaluation, survey and social audit.Deka has served as deputy commissioner in five Assam districts — Barpeta, Golaghat, Goalpara, Kokrajhar and Nalbari — and held key assignments including vice-chairman and CEO of Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority, mission director of Assam Skill Development Mission, Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission and PMAY (Urban), executive director of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and commissioner, Food & Drug Administration.She has also served as secretary in health, urban development, Bodoland Territorial Council, skill and entrepreneurship development, besides heading the Assam and Bodoland Administrative Staff Colleges.Her public-service work has earned her the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration, National e-Governance Awards, National Water Awards and several other recognitions.Her innovations in governance, including Goalmart, Infrastructure Snapshot, One District One Product, Khelo Kokrajhar and Green Goalpara, have been recognised by UNDP, NITI Aayog and the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances.Her empanelment marks a significant milestone for women officers from Assam and the Northeast at the Centre.
