After 3 devotional songs, IAS officer Rakhee Gupta Bhandari sings a Punjabi number

Talking about her latest Mahiya, which was released at the Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar on Sunday and recorded by the White Hill Company, the officer said, “Being a Punjab cadre officer, I am happy to come out with a Punjabi number. The story in the song revolves around the soldiers deputed at the borders and their families. Their families also make immense sacrifices. So, I have tried to bring that emotion in my song.”

Not a professional singer, Bhandari said she is finally living her dream apart from doing her job. “Once I became an IAS officer, the working hours got longer and I got busy. I never really could explore my desire to sing. Finally, in 2020 while I was posted at the Punjab Bhawan in New Delhi, I tried singing a devotional song, Main Toh Ratungi Radha Naam, and it got a roaring reception on YouTube. So, in August 2021, in the month of Sawan, I came up with another song,” she said.

Bhandari said singing has been her passion since childhood. “I compartmentalise myself. When I work, I focus on work and when I devote time to singing in my free time, I do justice to that. My husband, Rahul Bhandari, (a 1997 Punjab cadre IAS officer), and both my sons, had been pushing me to come out with a musical number as they have been listening to me sing for years. That motivated me. There is no age to live your dreams.”

She said her devotional songs have been appreciated by B Praak, Gurdas Mann, Kapil Sharma, and Sonam Bajwa among others.

A seasoned bureaucrat

Bhandari has held various important positions at the Centre as well as the Punjab Government.

She has served as the joint secretary in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Apart from this, she has also worked in various Ministries like Water Resources, River Development Ganga, Rejuvenation, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Power and Textiles and as the Director of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

She has also worked as deputy commissioner of Faridkot district in Punjab, principal resident commissioner, Punjab Bhawan, New Delhi, principal secretary to Governor, Punjab, Chandigarh, and has handled many other assignments.

Previously posted as principal secretary, Tourism and Cultural Affairs, the 1997-batch Indian Administrative Service officer is now the Principal Secretary, Food Processing.