Brave Dr. Ruveda Salam Is Kashmir Valley’s First Woman IPS Officer. This Is Her Incredible Story

• Brave Dr. Ruveda Salam Is Kashmir Valley’s First Woman IPS Officer. This Is Her Incredible Story

Formidable Dr. Ruveda Salam wrote history when she became the first Muslim woman from the remote Farkin village in the border district of Kupwara to have cracked the prestigious IAS examination back in 2013. What started out as a dream that her father and she collectively shared from her growing up years soon became reality through Ruveda’s dedication, hard work and steely perseverance.

Dr. Ruveda Salam Is Kashmir Valley’s First Woman IPS Officer

In her recent interview to Rediff, Dr. Ruveda shares her story of how dreams become a reality when your heart and mind is in the right place. “When I was growing up in Kashmir, my father often used to say that I should become an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer. That's when I first thought of becoming one. It inspired me and I decided to go ahead and aim for it.”

Before becoming the first woman to have qualified for the Union Public Service Commission examination in 2013, Ruveda got her MBBS degree from the Government Medical College in Srinagar.

After qualifying for the UPSC, she was then allotted the police services, and joined the police academy in Hyderabad for training. However, after the completion of her training, the lone Muslim woman police officer was put in the Tamil Nadu cadre.

“Last year, I was selected to the Indian Police Service cadre. I went for training to Hyderabad. The training was very strenuous. Physically it was very hard. I joined the IPS cadre in Tamil Nadu and was posted as an Assistant Commissioner of Police in Chennai.