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Aparajita Sarangi is a former IAS officer and a politician. She is famous for her innovative and tenacious approach towards development. Because of her strict nature at work, she is often called, ‘Madam Angry.’
Wiki/Biography
Aparajita Sarangi was born on Monday, 8 September 1969 (age 49 years; as in 2019)Â in Bhagalpur, Bihar. Her zodiac sign is Virgo. She holds a bachelors degree in English.
Physical Appearance
Height: 5′ 4″
Weight:Â 70 kg
Eye Colour:Â Black
Hair Colour:Â Black
Family, Caste & Husband
Aparajita Sarangi belongs to a brahmin family. Her father is an English professor, and her mother is also a teacher. She is married to Santosh Kumar Sarangi, an IAS officer.
The couple has a son named Shikhar Sarangi and a daughter named Archita Sarangi.
Career
Aparajita Sarangi cleared civil services exam in her first attempt in 1994 and joined as a sub-collector of Hindol, Dhenkanal, Odisha. She served as a collector in Khurda, Koraput, Nuapada and Bargarh districts of Odisha and district magistrate in Ganjam, Odisha. She served as director of Panchayati Raj Deptt. She was the municipal commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) for three years and Commissioner & Secretary Director in School & Mass Edu Deptt, Bhubaneswar and Textile & Handloom Deptt.
Political Career
She voluntarily resigned from administrative services and joined the BJP in June 2018.
Aparajita contested the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections from the Bhubaneswar Constituency and defeated BJD’s Arup Patnaik, the former commissioner of the Mumbai Police.
Controversies
- In 2010, Aparajita Sarangi introduced the dress code for teachers in Orissa. An issue arose about the colour of the dress. Moreover, many teachers expressed their disappointment with the dress code and there were protests from the section of teachers.
- Another controversy arose when Aparajita and the School and Mass Education Minister Pratap Jena, had a disagreement over the colour of the dress for the teachers. Aparajita insisted on pink sarees with black blouses, the minister’s choice fell on beige sarees with a navy blue border.
- In 2017, the then secretary of school and mass education, Aparajita announced the ban on admission test from classes I to VIII. However, the minister of the department Pratap Jena said that he was not aware of the matter and the decision was taken without taking him into confidence. The cause of the clash was rumoured to be from the dress code controversy.
Awards
Honoured With Shakti Samman in 2012.
Favourite Things
Facts
- She met her future husband for the first time during an IAS training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand.
- She terms her husband as ‘a brilliant officer‘ for always guiding her.
- She won the Best Dramatist Award for the three consecutive years when she was in college and was also adjudicated as the ‘Best Speaker’ at an all-India debate competition organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi.
- She was very good at academics and had cleared the IAS exam in her very first attempt.
- When asked about what would she be if not an IAS officer? She replied that she would have been an interior designer.
- Once in an interview, she said that Narendra Modi was her role model.