HP has first woman chief engineer

Archana Singh Thakur has become the first woman engineer to head the public works department of Himachal Pradesh, with her appointment to the post yesterday.

She has been appointed as engineer-in-chief in the Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department, which is responsible for the construction of roads, bridges and government buildings.

An engineering graduate from Punjab Engineering College, Thakur joined the state public works department in 1988, as assistant engineer designs, at Palampur.

Her father, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar, was also a chief engineer in the Agricultural University Palampur. He retired in 1990.

Thakur’s husband is an Inspector General of Police in the state. Her daughter and son have also show academic excellence, with the former studying at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and her son is doing is Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.