District Nodal Officer Saumya Pandey came back to work just 14 days after giving birth. She had given birth on September 17th and had come back to work on October 1. While the government mandates a six-month maternity leave, she had come back to work because there were rising cases of coronavirus in Ghaziabad.
Pictures of her holding her newborn baby girl nestled in her arms as she continues to work and make calls for meetings does has earned her accolades. She immediately also started making field visits and coordinated implementation of coronavirus related district schemes.
“Being the nodal officer, I had to streamline working between the administration and medical department. I visited Covid hospitals and interacted with doctors and patients and collated data accordingly. The DM and all of us other officials set up the Covid helpline to further help in passing information. I wore a face shield, mask, and gloves at all times, especially during hospital visits, hoping the precautions would suffice,” she was quoted saying.
Saumya is an All-India-Rank-4 holder who had cleared the UPSC exam in 2016, after having graduated in engineering from NIT in Allahabad. She is also a gold medalist in LBSNAA civil services and was also awarded for her project on innovations in defence excellence. Even until the final days of her pregnancy, she had continued to work, but had been focusing more on the data side.