Chandigarh: Nilambari Vijay Jagdale a civil servant. An engineer by profession, she gave up her job and joined the Indian Police Service in 2008 and now she has taken over as the first woman senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Chandigarh on Tuesday.

Her top priority is to “handle with empathy, crime against vulnerable sections such as women, children and senior citizens”. 

“It was my dream to join the civil services which is a committed profession,” said Nilambari, who was the first choice of the UT administration. She was allocated the Punjab cadre and the state is a second home now. A native of Maharashtra, she speaks Punjabi with equal fluency as she does her mother tongue.

Her top priority is to “handle with empathy, crime against vulnerable sections such as women, children and senior citizens”. She has a two-year-old daughter, Nitya, and is married to Chaitanya, a Major in the army.

Do not get carried away by her smiling face. Nilambari is considered a “tough taskmaster” by her colleagues in Punjab. “The implementation of law is paramount,” she said, sending a clear message that “any dereliction of duty will not be spared”. Nilambari holds a degree in electronic engineering (electronics) from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) Nagpur, formerly known as REC Nagpur.

The SSP looks forward to increasing public participation through community policing. Her message to her force is to carry out their duty in a professional manner.

“Gender has nothing to do with our profession. The challenges are the same for every officer,” she added. Nilambari is fond of reading and listening to music, especially ghazals.

She has received three commendation discs from the Punjab director general of police (DGP) for her work during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, during her tenure at Punjab Police Academy (PPA), Phillaur, for initiatives in police training and during the 2017 Punjab assembly polls.

She has served as assistant superintendent of police (ASP), Ropar; assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Ludhiana; ACP, Jalandhar; deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Khanna; additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP), Ludhiana; SSP, Fazilka district; deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Ludhiana commissionerate; assistant inspector general (AIG), state and cyber crime; deputy director of PPA Phillaur; SSP, Pathankot district, during the 2017 Punjab polls; and SSP, Ropar district.