Meet IG Laxmi Singh, the incredible IPS officer who puts duty before self

New Delhi, Mar 08: Every day is a great day to celebrate the amazing women in your life, but International Women's Day gives you an extra reason to do just that.

As the world celebrates International Women's day 2021, OneIndia brings you the story of woman IPS officer posted in Uttar Pradesh.

IPS officers are posted at some of the most challenging districts of the state where law and order situation requires in-depth planning and constant monitoring.

She has challenged the established gender order - pushed the boundaries when she was expected to be within the borders. She has showed courage and reached the position which she truly deserves but not without overcoming some of the patriarchal roadblocks. This is an astonishing journey of Lucknow Range Inspector General (IG) Laxmi Singh, her struggles and fights that has a lesson for the new generation of women leaders.

'Yogi's trusted officer'

A mechanical engineering graduate with a MA degree, Laxmi Singh, is an IPS officer of the 2000 batch. In 2014, she was posted as DIG PAC Meerut and has strained every nerve to keep criminal gangs under a strict check. She has also arrested some of the most notorious dacoits and their aides during multiple raids. She advocated zero-tolerance towards crime.

Born in Lucknow, Laxmi Singh has in the past been given important assignments as DG, ADG, DIG.

Impressed by her work, Yogi Adityanath promoted her in 2019 and was posted in Lucknow. She led a team of experienced cops that cracked sensational criminal cases which helped the police retained public trust. The state government had also appointed her to investigate the role of police personnel in Kanpur encounter case that claimed lives of at least eight policemen including DSP Devendra Mishra. Even in Unnao case, the Police arrested a 21-year-old man and his teenage associate for allegedly poisoning three Dalit girls and killing two of them.

She especially earned praises for as many as 4,500 pending cases in three weeks.

How hard was it for a woman IPS officer to climb the ladder and be there?

Women must prove their worth on an everyday basis - feels Laxmi Singh. Policing is largely a masculine space and women are always under scrutiny by their male counterparts.

She also believes that a woman should be mentally strong to take challenges head on and be able to take risks and mitigate them.