Former Director General of Police, UP Police Mahila Samman Prakoshth; State Human Rights Commission & Civil Defence

As the first woman Indian Police Service officer who has served as Director General in Uttar Pradesh, Sutapa Sanyal has over three decades of experience in leadership, management and administration. Her areas of specialization include Law, Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC), HR and Capacity Development, Diversity and Inclusion, and Security and Safety in the Workplace.

She has received the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Services, Police Medal for Long & Meritorious Service, and the Lokmat Samman for Public Administration from the Hon. Chief Minister of UP Shri Yogi Adityanath. She has also received several awards from reputed media groups and private business organizations in India.

Ms. Sanyal was recognized by the British High Commission as an Indian Woman Leader in 2015. She was also the only Indian invited to address the Specialists Group on Crimes against Children (ISGCAC) at the INTERPOL in 2017. Her work in Prevention of Human Trafficking has also been recognized by the US Department of State.

As a member of the Government of India’s Micro Mission 07, she headed the sub-committee which made policy recommendations for strategies to prevent crimes against women.

In 2014, she was selected by the government to head UP’s special police unit for protecting and empowering over 170 million women and children, who make up over 70% of the population of the state. As Director General of Police, she conceptualized, launched and led the UP Police Mahila Samman Prakoshth (MSP).

MSP is an award-winning police unit built on the principle of community policing within a public-private partnership framework. She also initiated “Smart City-Safe City” initiatives across UP, which included safer transport, better police patrolling, and the use of CCTV and other technologies.

She was appointed as the Chairperson of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of Uttar Pradesh Police under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act. Additionally, she has worked closely with SCOPE, FICCI, EY (formerly Ernst & Young), and PHDCC to ensure diverse and inclusive offices in the public and private sectors. She has delivered talks at organizations like INTERPOL, London School of Economics, and IIM (Lucknow).

She was Advisor (Security) to GAIL India Ltd. for five years, where she successfully led the security set-up for the protection of the assets and personnel of this Maharatna PSU's all-India operations. She also has extensive experience in risk evaluation, and fraud prevention, detection and investigation.

She holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Patna University, and a Certification in Management from London Business School. She was a lecturer in Economics at Patna University before joining the Civil Services.