Salma Fahim

Salma Fahim is a career civil servant in the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) with 13 years of experience in varied development fields such as rural water supply, sanitation, education, and health. She is the recipient of the Award of Excellence for the implementation of the Employment Guarantee Scheme of the Government of India. In her other roles, she has been a member of a select group of bureaucrats who have successfully implemented the World Bank Project on Water Supply aimed at providing sustainable water solutions to 5 million rural population in the state of Karnataka; ensured 100% screening of all pregnant women in Karnataka: around 1.2 million of them were screened for HIV to ensure early detection, and she has implemented the largest start-up support program in the country in the Information Technology and Biotechnology sectors. She has the unique distinction of being the first Muslim IAS officer from the State of Karnataka and hence is a role model for the socio-economically backward Muslim community, especially its women and girls. She is a part of the incoming Edward S Mason Master’s in Public Administration cohort 2020-2021 at Harvard Kennedy School and is a Fulbright Scholar.