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{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Parveen Talha<br />
| image = <br />
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| birth_place = [[Lucknow]], Uttar Pradesh, India<br />
| death_date = <br />
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| occupation = Civil servant<br />
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| parents = Mohammed Talha<br />
| relations = Osama Talha, Kulsum Talha, Uzma Talha, Faraz Talha<br />
| website = <br />
| awards = [[Padma Shri]]<br>[[President of India|President's Award]] for Distinguished Service<br />
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'''Parveen Talha''' is an Indian civil servant, reported to be the first Muslim woman to serve in any Class I civil service in India, the first [[Indian Revenue Service]] officer to become a member of the [[Union Public Service Commission]] and the first woman to serve in Narcotics Department of India.<ref name="First Muslim woman to enter civil services awarded Padma Shri">{{cite web | url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/first-muslim-woman-to-enter-civil-services-awarded-padma-shri-114042700109_1.html | title=First Muslim woman to enter civil services awarded Padma Shri | publisher=Business Standard | date=4 September 2014 | accessdate=4 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="IAS Exam Portal">{{cite web | url=http://iasexamportal.com/civilservices/forum/profile-upsc-member-ms-parveen-talha | title=IAS Exam Portal | publisher=IAS Exam Portal | date=2006–2014 | accessdate=4 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="Sen Times Profile">{{cite web | url=http://tkbsen.in/2014/01/upsc-member-p-kilemsungla-and-former-member-parveen-talha-get-padma-shri/ | title=Sen Times Profile | publisher=Sen Times Profile | date=26 January 2014 | accessdate=5 September 2014 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> She was honoured by the [[Government of India]], in 2014, by bestowing on her the [[Padma Shri]], the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to [[Indian Civil Service]].<ref name="Padma">{{cite web |url=http://www.pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=102735 |title=Padma Awards Announced |publisher=Press Information Bureau, Government of India |work=Circular |date=25 January 2014 |accessdate=23 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222101141/http://www.pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=102735 |archivedate=22 February 2014 }}</ref><br />
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==Biography==<br />
{{quotebox|align = right|qalign = center|width=21em|''I find there are stories in every nook and corner that are waiting to be told'', says Parveen Talha, about her career as a writer, ''So I will pursue my passion for writing now that I am a retired person''}}<br />
Parveen Talha was born in [[Lucknow]], [[Uttar Pradesh]] in India, as one of the two children (her brother, Osama Talha, who later became a leading journalist, died young in 1995<ref name="Wings of Education - Part 1 Parveen Talha with Adilmohd" />), in the famous Awadh family.<ref name="Fida-E-Lucknow: Tales of the City and Its People">{{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.in/Fida-E-Lucknow-Tales-City-Its-People/dp/9381523703 | title=Fida-E-Lucknow: Tales of the City and Its People | publisher=Niyogi Books | author=Parveen Talha | date=20 March 2013 | location=New Delhi | pages=198 | isbn=978-9381523704}}</ref> Her father, Mohammed Talha, was a freedom fighter and a known lawyer,<ref name="Wings of Education - Part 1 Parveen Talha with Adilmohd" /> a participant in the ''Jang-e-Azadi'' independence struggle<ref name="Jang e Azadi">{{cite web | url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/chandigarh/cm-to-lay-foundation-stone-of-jang-e-azadi-memorial-on-oct-12/article1-1251069.aspx | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812114145/http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/chandigarh/cm-to-lay-foundation-stone-of-jang-e-azadi-memorial-on-oct-12/article1-1251069.aspx | url-status=dead | archive-date=12 August 2014 | title=Jang e Azadi | publisher=Hindutan Times | date=12 August 2014 | accessdate=5 September 2014}}</ref> who chose to remain in India when his brother moved to Pakistan during the [[Partition of India|partition]].<ref name="Wings of Education - Part 1 Parveen Talha with Adilmohd" /> Parveen did her schooling at [[Loreto Convent Lucknow|Loreto Convent High School]] from where she passed [[Senior Cambridge]] in first division and continued the college studies at Loreto College.<ref name="Wings of Education - Part 1 Parveen Talha with Adilmohd">{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7mPd-ADBHk | title="Wings of Education – Part 1" Parveen Talha with Adilmohd | publisher=HBDB ETV | date=16 November 2011 | accessdate=5 September 2014}}</ref> After passing MA in Economics from [[Lucknow University]], Parveen joined the University as a Lecturer in 1965.<ref name="IAS Exam Portal" /><br />
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==Career and achievements==<br />
{{quotebox|align = right|qalign = center|width=21em|''There was a large-scale leakage of opium going on in UP then'', Parveen Talha said about her campaign against drug traffickers, ''While I tried my best to play a stringent officer dealing with certain illegal channels, poppy cultivators were surprised too because they had never seen a woman at that level''<ref name="First Muslim woman to enter civil services awarded Padma Shri" /><ref name="India TV News">{{cite web | url=http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/parveen-talha-first-muslim-woman-to-enter-civil-services-awarde-35912.html | title=India TV News | publisher=India TV | date=2014 | accessdate=5 September 2014}}</ref>}}<br />
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Parveen Talha started her career as a lecturer of economics at the [[Lucknow University]] in 1965 where she worked till 1969,<ref name="IAS Exam Portal" /> the year she passed [[Indian Civil Service]] examination. She joined [[Indian Revenue Service]] in 1969, becoming the first Muslim woman to enter the Revenue Service.<ref name="Fida-E-Lucknow: Tales of the City and Its People" /> Later, she served at the Commissionerates at Mumbai and Kolkata and, also at the Central Excise Commissionerate.<ref name="IAS Exam Portal" /><br />
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The next move was to Narcotics Department as the Deputy Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh, fetching her another first as the only woman officer of the [[Central Bureau of Narcotics]], where she had the official authority to confiscate properties of smugglers and drug traffickers.<ref name="IAS Exam Portal" /><br />
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After the stint at the Central Bureau of Narcotics, Parveen Talha was appointed as the Director General of the [[National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics]] (NACEN), at their training department. She is credited with making NACEN an accredited training institute of the [[World Customs Organization]]'s (WCO) for Asia-Pacific region. She is also reported to have introduced training modules for stopping the smuggling of ozone depleting substances. She was successful in signing a [[Memorandum of Understanding]] with [[United Nations Environment Program]], making NACEN, the only training academy for imparting training for the control of ozone depleting substmces and environmental crimes.<ref name="IAS Exam Portal" /><br />
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Parveen Talha retired from the Revenue Service in 2004 as the senior most woman officer of the Customs and Central Excise and on 30 September 2004, became a member of the [[Union Public Service Commission]]. Talha was the first IRS officer and Muslim woman to become a member of UPSC.<ref name="First Muslim woman to enter civil services awarded Padma Shri" /><ref name="Sen Times Profile" /><ref name="India TV News"/> She retired from Government service on 3 October 2009.<ref name="IAS Exam Portal" /><ref name="Sen Times Profile" /><ref name="Wings of Educationa Part 2 Parveen Talha Former Member UPSC with Adilmohd">{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V99Sak2BErs | title="Wings of Educationa Part 2" Parveen Talha Former Member UPSC with Adilmohd | publisher=HBDB ETV | date=22 November 2011 | accessdate=5 September 2014}}</ref><br />
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After her retirement from public service, Parveen Talha took up writing. In 2013, she brought out her first book, ''Fida-e-Lucknow – Tales of the city and its people'', a collection of 22 short stories, placed in the landscape of Lucknow, telling the stories of its women. The book was formally released by the Vice-President of India, [[Hamid Ansari]].<ref name="A new book explores Lucknow">{{cite web | url=http://muslimstoday.in/tag/parveen-talha/ | title=A new book explores Lucknow | publisher=Muslims Today.in | date=6 May 2014 | accessdate=5 September 2014 | archive-date=7 September 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907004311/http://muslimstoday.in/tag/parveen-talha/ | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Vice-President Releases Book “Fida-e-Lucknow – Tales of the City and its People” ">{{cite web | url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=95400 | title=Vice President Releases Book "Fida-e-Lucknow – Tales of the City and its People" | publisher=Press Information Bureau – Government of India | date=1 May 2013 | accessdate=5 September 2014}}</ref><br />
* {{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.in/Fida-E-Lucknow-Tales-City-Its-People/dp/9381523703 | title=Fida-E-Lucknow: Tales of the City and Its People | publisher=Niyogi Books | author=Parveen Talha | date=20 March 2013 | location=New Delhi | pages=198 | isbn=978-9381523704}}<br />
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==Awards and recognitions==<br />
Parveen Talha is a recipient of [[President of India|President's Award]] for distinguished service, which she received in 2000.<ref name="IAS Exam Portal" /> Fourteen years later, in 2014, the [[Government of India]] honoured her services to the [[Indian Civil Service]] by awarding her [[Padma Shri]], the fourth among the highest Indian civilian awards.<ref name="Padma" /><br />
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==See also==<br />
{{portal|India}}<br />
* [[Indian Civil Service]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist|colwidth=50em}}<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
* {{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.in/Fida-E-Lucknow-Tales-City-Its-People/dp/9381523703 | title=Fida-E-Lucknow: Tales of the City and Its People | publisher=Niyogi Books | author=Parveen Talha | date=20 March 2013 | location=New Delhi | pages=198 | isbn=978-9381523704}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
* {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7mPd-ADBHk | title="Wings of Education – Part 1" Parveen Talha with Adilmohd on HBDB Etv Urdu. Nov 16th 2011 | publisher=HBDB ETV | date=16 November 2011 | accessdate=5 September 2014}}<br />
* {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V99Sak2BErs | title="Wings of Educationa Part 2" Parveen Talha Former Member UPSC with Adilmohd | publisher=HBDB ETV | date=22 November 2011 | accessdate=5 September 2014}}<br />
* {{cite web | url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/comment/khushwantsingh/desi-meemokrasee/article1-1039002.aspx | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025235615/http://www.hindustantimes.com/comment/khushwantsingh/desi-meemokrasee/article1-1039002.aspx | url-status=dead | archive-date=25 October 2013 | title=Kushwant Singh on Parveen Talha | publisher=Hindustan Times | work=Web article | date=8 April 2013 | accessdate=5 September 2014 | author=Kushwant Singh}}<br />
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{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Civil Service}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Talha, Parveen}}<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in civil service]]<br />
[[Category:Scientists from Lucknow]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Revenue Service officers]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian economists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women economists]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian women scientists]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian women scientists]]<br />
[[Category:Women scientists from Uttar Pradesh]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian economists]]<br />
[[Category:Educators from Uttar Pradesh]]<br />
[[Category:Women educators from Uttar Pradesh]]<br />
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]</div>FlossiePolglaze