IAS Officer Refuses Maternity Leave, Joins Work With Newborn Amid Coronavirus Crisis

Alongside healthcare workers and police officials, government officers are also playing an important role in the nation’s fight against the coronavirus crisis. They too make themselves susceptible to the virus by showing up at work and sacrifice time with their families to serve their fellow citizens.

Setting an example of putting the nation before anything else, an IAS officer, G Srijana, refused her maternity leave and resumed work just 22 days after having a baby boy, reports Hindustan Times.

She is currently serving as the Commissioner of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC).

When asked about how does she manage work and looking after her baby simultaneously, she revealed how both her lawyer-husband and mother take turns to look after the newborn. She takes a break every four hours to feed her son.

Pictures of the young mother holding her baby while answering a phone call inside her office have gone viral on the internet. Have a look:

An extraordinary feather of @IASassociation. 2013 batch IAS Mrs @GummallaSrijana Commissioner @GVMC_OFFICIAL refused to take 06 months maternal leave and joined back her office with one month old baby in lap. Truly inspiring to all #CoronaWarriors #COVID__19 pic.twitter.com/mzbPsUyTco

— Dr.Prashanth (@prashantchiguru) April 11, 2020

Young #IAS Officers leading #fightagainstcorona.
GVMC Visakhapatnam Commissioner, Ms Gummalla Srijana @GummallaSrijana
joined back on duty with one month old baby without maternity leave to serve the City.#CoronaWarriorshttps://t.co/DyP3s0uU2z pic.twitter.com/2HlpvZU9pC

— IAS Association (@IASassociation) April 11, 2020

According to a report by News18, the IAS officer spoke about taking the necessary precautions to keep the baby safe and healthy amidst the pandemic.

“Taking every precaution with the baby. I keep the baby with me in a very protected environment for feeding and nurturing.”

She also went on to add how such critical times demands her to show up at work and perform her duty towards the country.

People on the internet are lauding the woman for her dedication towards her job as an IAS officer and as a mother:

Ye hai women power …

— Prt_teacher_mcd (@prt_teacher_mcd) April 11, 2020

Hats off to you madam, u r the real soldier of our nation

— Shailaja Reddy (@ShailajaReddi) April 11, 2020

Great respect for her, kindly direct the administration to take special care of her and the baby.

— Shobhit Chauhan (@chauhanshobhit_) April 11, 2020

Truly Inspiring. Nation First.
🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

— Pradyumna Padwal (@PadwalPradyumna) April 11, 2020

Salute you mam 🙏🙏🙏🙏

— Divya Bhan (@DivyaBhan5) April 11, 2020

Awesome Ma’am, More power to you and the little champ…..

— Vikash Chowdhury (@VikashChowdhur3) April 12, 2020

This is the power of Indians 🇮🇳💪

— manoj kumar tripathy (@manojkumar50016) April 11, 2020

The county is proud of you, Ma’am!