Sujata Saunik

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sujata Saunik

• Sujata Saunik’s father, C D Cheema, was an IAS officer who served as the Election Commissioner of Punjab after retiring.

• In 1989, she started her career as an assistant collector in Aurangabad.

  

• Sujata Saunik was on deputation to the UN mission in Cambodia from June 1992 to July 1993 as a Civil Affairs Officer and Election Monitor. She assisted in voter registration and conducted the first democratic elections in Cambodia (Kampuchea).

• Sujata Saunik was on deputation to the United Nations mission in Kosovo from 2000 to 2005. She worked as the Municipal Administrator of Prizren, the second-largest town in Kosovo. She led an international team to help in reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in this war-affected area of Yugoslavia.

• Sujata Saunik served as the Executive Director of the Central Social Welfare Board in the Ministry of Women and Child Development in Delhi from September 2006 to September 2008.

• During her period in the Plan and Policy division of NDMA, Sujata Saunik focussed on state and district disaster management plans, capacity building, and training key stakeholders.

• She has also supervised the training and international deployment of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

• Sujata Saunik has handled the NDRF’s participation in the United Nations International Search and Rescue Group (INSARAG) and Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) exercises in Agra and Tunis.

• Under Sujata Saunik’s leadership, the initiative “Kayapalat-Transforming Primary Health” reached remote areas.

• In October 2016, she was appointed as the Principal Secretary for Financial Reforms in the Department of Finance in Mumbai. She served in the position till October 2019.

• During this period, Sujata Saunik managed office administration, set agendas for high-level meetings with the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Authority, and worked with the Advisory Board.

• In April 2024, Sujata Saunik and her husband, Manoj Saunik, an IAS couple, were both candidates for the post of Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, marking a first in the history of state administration.

  

• In July 2024, she was appointed as the first female Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, breaking a 64-year-old pattern.

  

• Sujata Saunik is fluent in English, Hindi, Marathi, and Punjabi.