IAS officer cancels maternity leave amid COVID-19 crisis, joins work with month-old baby

Showing utmost dedication to her duty and setting an example to others during the COVID-19 crisis, Srijana Gummalla, Commissioner of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), has returned to work within just 22 days of giving birth to a baby.

Visakhapatnam:Putting duty before self amid COVID-19 crisis, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from Andhra Pradesh, decided to forego her 6-month maternity leave and returned to work within just a month of giving birth amid coronavirus crisis.

As per reports, Srijana Gummalla, who passed out with the 2013- IAS batch and is currently serving as Commissioner of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) in Andhra Pradesh, gave birth to a baby boy earlier this year.

A young mother, Gummalla, who can be duly called as a true frontline warrior in this coronavirus pandemic situation, said, " I am aware of the importance of being at work during these difficult times and how much my services were required during these emergency services. I felt that this is the time we should all stand together and be of strength to each other."

The GVMC Commissioner is thankful to her family for supporting her decision to return to duty.

"It was a personal choice, nobody forced me to come back and join the duty but I did so after consulting my husband and family. I thank them for supporting my decision and taking care of the baby while I am in the office. I had never thought I would be cutting short my leave to rejoin duty instead of being with my child. But these are difficult circumstances and I thought if my presence can help even one person it would be worth it," Gummalla said.

She further added that she was learning time management and trying to manage both the responsibilities of being a mother and helping in the administrative work since her return.

Andhra Pradesh so far has 381 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with six deaths being reported due to the disease in the state.

With inputs from ANI