Washington: Being the British High Commissioner in India can be a hectic job, and an 18-year-old woman from the national capital experienced this when she held the post for a day.
Chaitanya Venkateswaran from New Delhi had the unique opportunity to spend last Wednesday as the UK’s senior-most diplomat in India under the mission’s initiative aimed at empowering and highlighting the challenges faced by women across the world.
The British High Commission has been organising the ‘High Commissioner for a Day’ competition annually since 2017, inviting young Indian women aged 18 to 23 years to take over as their most senior diplomat.
Chaitanya is the fourth young woman to take over as the British High Commissioner in an annual competition run by the UK mission in celebration of International Day of the Girl Child on October 11, the British High Commission said in a statement.
As the UK’s top diplomat in Newdelhi, Chaitanya’s busy day included handing out tasks to the High Commission’s department heads, interacting with senior women police officers, meeting the press, and launching a study tracing the impact of British Council STEM scholarships on Indian women participants.
Chaitanya, an active volunteer, has worked to aid visually-impaired students, acid attack survivors and marginalised LGBT groups.
