The correct answer is Punjab.

• Vini Mahajan was the first female chief secretary of the state of Punjab.
  • Vini Mahajan has served in the office of former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh from 2005-2012 and handled matters relating to Finance, Industry and Commerce, Telecom, and IT.
  • The Punjab government-appointed 1987-batch Punjab cadre IAS officer Vini Mahajan as the new Chief Secretary, replacing Karan Avtar Singh.
  • She is the youngest of all six colleagues and retires in October 2024.
  • She has received the National Literacy Award for best performance in India.
  • She became the 1st woman officer to be posted as Deputy Commissioner(DC) in Punjab in 1995, where she took charge as DC in Ropar & served as the 1st Director Disinvestment.
  • She has also participated in the global response through the G-20 mechanism.

• The chief secretary of the state 
  • The post of Chief Secretary (Mukhya Sachiv) is the senior-most position held in the civil services of the states and union territories of India.
  • The position is a cadre post for the Indian Administrative Service.
  • The Chief Secretary is usually the senior-most IAS officer of the senior-most batch in the state.
    • The appointee for the office is approved by the state Chief Minister, based on the appointee's ability and strong confidence with him or her.