Who is Ashwini Bhide, first woman BMC commissioner
What's the story
Ashwini Bhide, a 1995-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, has been appointed as the new Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). She is the first woman to head India's richest civic body. Her appointment comes as she takes over from Bhushan Gagrani, whose term will end on March 31.
Career milestones
Bhide chosen over senior officers
Bhide was chosen for the post over other senior officers like Assem Gupta and Milind Mhaiskar. She is known as a "no-nonsense" administrator and has close ties with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Her selection is largely due to her experience in handling mega-projects, most notably leading Mumbai's ambitious metro rail project, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited, between 2015 and 2020. Bhide had previously served as a BMC Additional Commissioner. Her appointment is expected to last till 2030.
Career highlights
Early career highlights
She is likely to focus on improving the city's infrastructure and urban governance during her tenure. Bhide started her career in Kolhapur district as an assistant collector from 1997 to 1999. She was then appointed as the chief executive officer of Sindhudurg district. From 2000 to 2003, she served as the chief executive officer of the Nagpur Zilla Parishad, where she built 434 dams across 310 villages to irrigate land.
Urban impact
Other notable positions held by Bhide
She served as deputy secretary to the Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to 2008 before commencing her long career in Mumbai's urban development. Bhide was also the Additional Metropolitan Commissioner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority from 2008 to 2014. She served as School Education and Sports Secretary, where she introduced the Systematic Administrative Reforms for Achieving Learning by Students (SARAL) database online.