Meenakshi Vijayakumar Biography 
Meenakshi Vijayakumar is the present Deputy Director of North Western Region in Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services; the only woman officer in field operations in India. She is one of the first woman fire officers in the country to be qualified as Divisional Fire Officer and is known for her achievements in the World Fire Fighters, held in Korea (2010) and Australia (2012). She is the granddaughter of the great freedom fighter, social activist and politician - P. Kakkan from Madurai.
She was born in 1965 in 1965 Thumbaipatti, Melur of Chennai district. Her school and college education were completed at Chennai itself. After graduation from Annamalai University in 1994, she took Advanced Diploma courses in National Fire Service College. She was awarded “Graduate Member” by Institute of Fire Engineers in 2008 and later she received several certificates in the field of fire force.
Her professional career started as an academician where she joined as an Assistant Professor in English at Chellamal College, Chennai in 1990. She also taught at Delhi and cleared Group 1 service exam in 1998. She had a long wait of 5 years before she was included as a woman officer in Indian fore service, a rare recognition for a woman. She started her new career as Divisional Fire Officer at Chennai, followed by sub-urban Chennai. She led men contingent at Republic Parade in Chennai Marina in 2005, the first woman officer to receive this honour.
She is also known for her outstanding services when Tsunami hit Tamil Nadu in 2004. Later served as a committee member in selecting candidates to fire service, she has also trained many students. She also participated in World Fire Fighters Games held in South Korea in 2010 and won several medals. She was awarded the President’s Fire Service Medal for Gallantry in 2013.
Published: N/A
Updated: February 05, 2016
