The Karnataka Government on Tuesday appointed K Ratna Prabha (IAS:1981:KN) as the new Chief Secretary of the state which makes her the third woman to become K'taka CS after Teresa Bhattacharya in 2000 and Malathi Das in 2006. Present Chief Secretary Subhash Chandra Khuntia is set to retire on November 30. The state now has women occupying the top posts in the state bureaucracy and the police. It may be mentioned that Neelamani N Raju (IPS:1983:KN) was on 31 October appointed as the first-ever woman police chief (DGP) in the state. Sailing against several odds Ratna Prabha, a dalit IAS officer, had been making all round efforts for last two years to become K'taka CS. Her seniority also worked in her favour. She also played her dalit card smartly and made several representations underlining the under-representation of SCs & STs in civil service. Indianmandarins had on several occasions reported how Rahul Gandhi and later Ms Sonia Gandhi advocated her case with K'taka CM Siddharamaiyah.