Saumya Pandey

Some Lesser Known Facts About Saumya Pandey

• Saumya Pandey is a serving officer in the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) of the 2016 Uttar Pradesh cadre who secured an All India Rank (AIR) 4 on her first attempt in the 2016 UPSC exams. She came into the limelight in April 2023 after her picture went viral in which she can be seen conversing with an old paraplegic man, listening to his complaints, outside her office in Kanpur.

• When Saumya Pandey was in school, she was awarded medals and trophies numerous times for participating in swimming and basketball tournaments.

  

• While pursuing her graduation, Saumya enrolled in the National Cadet Corps as a cadet. She attended many training camps there and earned her B and C certificates.

  

• After graduating in 2015, Saumya Pandey began preparing for the civil services examination. She appeared for the exams in 2016 and managed to pass with flying colours. While giving an interview, Saumya said that she began to search for her name from the bottom of the list and was disheartened after she did not see her name at the bottom of the merit list. Talking about it, she said,
  

  When the name was not shown, I told my mother that I will prepare better in the next attempt and will clear it for sure. But my mother asked me to check the names to see who has topped. My mother and I could not believe when my name appeared amongst the toppers. I cross-checked the result with my roll number and realized the result was really mine.”

• In 2017, Saumya reported at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand. There, she topped her batch and won the Director’s Gold Medal for Political Concepts and Constitution of India in IAS Professional Course Phase 1.

• Suamya Pandey completed her administrative training in 2018 and on 12 May 2018, she was posted to Sidharth Nagar, UP, where she assumed the charge of assistant collector and assistant magistrate at the Land Revenue Management & District Administration department. She remained at the post till 20 May 2019.

• Saumya served as a Deputy Collector (DC)/ Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) at the Public Administration department in Sidharth Nagar from 31 August 2018 to 2 November 2018.

• She was appointed as an assistant magistrate in Sidharth Nagar in the same year.

• She became a Block Development Officer (BDO) at Sidharth Nagar on 2 January 2019. She served as a BDO till 27 February 2019.

• Saumya Pandey served in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in New Delhi as an additional secretary from 1 July 2019 to 30 August 2019.

  

• In September 2019, she was posted to Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, where she served as the joint magistrate till October 2020.

• In Ghaziabad, she was made a nodal officer for COVID-19 in June 2020.

• In October 2020, Saumya Pandey was posted to Kanpur Dehat, where she assumed the post of Chief Development Officer (CDO).

  

• Saumya cut short her maternal leave and rejoined the duty in two weeks after giving birth to a baby girl.

• Saumya Pandey likes to travel a lot. She has toured many countries including Italy, France, Switzerland, and the United States of America.

• Saumya Pandey began learning Kathak when she was very young. She has participated in many Kathak competitions organised at the state and national levels.

  

• She takes a keen interest in adventure sports and likes scuba diving.