Vijay Laxmi Devi: Odisha’s 1st & India’s 3rd Female Sub-Inspector

Bhubaneswar: Most Odias are unaware of the fact that Odisha’s first lady Sub-Inspector (SI) of police, Vijay Laxmi Devi was also India’s third lady Sub-Inspector. Odisha Police remembered this path-breaking female police personnel of the state on Sunday.

Vijay Laxmi Devi hailed from the Dhenkanal district of Odisha. She joined the Odisha Police on January 8, 1962. It was a time when even college education was a dream for most women in the state.

At that time there was a dearth of female police officers throughout the country. The first police sub-inspector of the country was Shanti Parwani of Mumbai and she was followed by Shakuntala Vashisth of Delhi. Vijay Laxmi was the third brave police woman in Independent India.

Vijay Laxmi excelled in sports and represented Odisha. After completing her higher studies at Ravenshaw College in Cuttack, she preferred to become a Sub-Inspector of Odisha Police. After completing her training at Police Training College, Angul, she was posted as an SI in the Cuttack district.

A portrait of Vijaya Laxmi Devi dons the wall of the police training academy to enthuse the female officers in training.