Letika Saran

Letika Saran is the former Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu, India. Earlier she served as the 36th Commissioner of Police in Chennai. She is the only woman to head a metropolitan police organization in India. Before that she was an Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP).[1][2]

Letika Saran
Born31 March 1952
Idukki, Kerala
OccupationIPS Officer

Early life

Saran was born on 31 March 1952 at Idukki district in Kerala. Her father's name is NS Dhar. He was the first planter at James Finlay and Co, which later became Tata Tea. Her mother's name is Vijayalakshmi Dhar. She entered the Tamil Nadu Indian Police Service in 1976 as one of the first two women to be admitted, the other being Thilagavathi.[3]

Career

Saran's postings include ADGP; Training and Project Director, Tamil Nadu Police Academy; Inspector-General of Police, Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). She became the Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai on 20 April 2006.

On 8 January 2010, she was appointed as Director General of Police (DGP) for Tamil Nadu, becoming the second female DGP of a state in India and the first for Tamil Nadu. Saran's appointment was later challenged by another IPS officer who claimed his seniority had been overlooked. In October 2010, the Madras High Court overturned Saran's appointment and ruled that a list of three eligible candidates must be presented from which the state government would make their selection.[4] The state government, "after due consideration and in full compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court," again chose Saran from the list. She was re-appointed on 27 November 2010.[5]

Saran retired in April 2012.[3]

Post retirement

After her retirement, she spends her time by engaging in social activities. She gave more importance to road safety sector by taking awareness sessions in schools, colleges and has been engaging and creating awareness through NGOs too. She also inaugurated a massive Traffic Awareness Campaign[6] held on 100 traffic signals across Chennai on same day and same time on 9 August 2015 organized by Thozhan NGO[7] which works on creating road safety awareness along with Good Samaritan Law awareness[8] to transform our country as Accident Free Nation. Along with the volunteers, she also interacted with the public, distributed awareness pamphlets[9] and spoke to them about the importance of following road safety rules.

References
  1. Wilson, Subajayanthi (16 August 2003). "Stride for stride". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  2. "Chennai gets its first woman Police Commissioner". The Hindu. 21 April 2006. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  3. Selvaraj, A. (31 March 2012). "Letika Saran, city's first woman top cop, retires today". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  4. "Tamil Nadu: Court quashes appointment of first woman DGP". NDTV. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  5. "Norms followed in Letika posting: Govt". Times of India. 2 July 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  6. "Thozhan Spreads The Word About Traffic Rules, at 100 Signals in City". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  7. "Thozhan's job is your safety, create awareness about helping accident victims". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  8. "Road safety awareness: Group takes road safety awareness to 71 parks". The Times of India. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  9. "Former DGP Lathika Charan gives pamphlets on Road Safety Awareness". You Tube.
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