A practitioner, advocate for social causes and a mother, Dr Yogita Rana, dons many hats. Despite being brilliant in academics, she quit her profession as a doctor and qualified for IAS in 2003. She says, “I aimed to be a gynaecologist, but as I was doing my internship, I realised I wanted to do a lot more for the patients. I noticed that there was no transparency — drugs for the patients were used for other purposes and there were other such laxities. I wrote letters to the superintendent but in vain. That’s when I felt I can’t deliver being a sincere doctor. I quit the government job. My options were to clear TOEFL and settle abroad or bring in the change.”
But the real encouragement came when there was a strike at her medical college and she saw a young commissioner intervening. “The way he addressed the crowd had brought a lot of change in the management. That moment I decided to appear for the civil services exams, as IAS offers so many possibilities to change the society,” says the MBBS from Govt. Medical College, Jammu.
She brought laurels to Telangana with her contribution to Haritha Haram and other allied programmes initiated by the government, and she was adjudged as the Best Collector of the state. “Spiritually, I have achieved a lot of satisfaction by helping people. Every Monday, I look forward to the Prajavani programme, where 40-50 or 100 odd people come for help. Even if I am able to give justice to 10 out of the 100, I feel satisfied. I was given the Best Collector award by CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao. Last year, our district was recognised as the Best District under NREGA,” says Rana, who got the National Award for her contribution in NREGA last year by the Government of India. “For an IAS, it’s nothing less than a Bharat Ratna,” she says.
Rana, born and brought up in Jammu, remained on deputation with J&K State for three years where she was associated with UNDP, Umeed and Himayat projects, and did commendable work on that front too.
So, how does she de-stress? “I work to de-stress. Work gives me a lot of satisfaction. Meeting someone over lunch or watching Baahubali 2 isn’t happiness! My colleagues say, ‘When she is unwell, give her an important assignment and she will feel better’.”
“I also like spending time with my children and my husband. Whenever I get time, I go to an orphanage and chat with people,” adds Rana, under whose leadership and command against an uphill and challenging target of planting 3.35 crore saplings in Nizamabad, the district was able to achieve more than 100 per cent target by planting 3.43 crore saplings.
Has she ever felt the heat of adjusting in the male dominated field? “This thought has never crossed my mind. I always felt if a woman is honest and hardworking, she can be equally dominating. For me, the only obstacle was my speed. It was hard for me to find someone of my calibre. If you make your agenda clear to others, your work becomes easier.”
