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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}

{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Chonira Belliappa Muthamma
|image = C. B. Muthamma.jpg
| native_name = ಚೋನಿರ ಬೆಳ್ಯಪ್ಪ ಮುತ್ತಮ್ಮ
| native_name_lang = ಚೋನಿರ ಬೆಳ್ಯಪ್ಪ ಮುತ್ತಮ್ಮ
|birth_date = 24 January 1924
|birth_place = [[Virajpet]], [[Karnataka]]
|death_date = 14 October 2009 (aged 85)
|death_place = [[Bangalore]], [[Karnataka]]
|residence =
|alma_mater = Women's Christian College<br>Presidency College, Chennai
|occupation =
|profession =
|cabinet =
|committees =
|portfolio =
|religion =
|signature =
|website =
|allegiance={{flag|India}}
|serviceyears=1949–1982
|rank= [[Ambassador]]
}}
'''Chonira Belliappa Muthamma''' (24 January 1924 – 14 October 2009) was the first woman to clear the [[Indian Civil Services]] examinations. She was also the first woman to join the [[Indian Foreign Service]]. She was the first Indian woman diplomat as well. Later, she became the first Indian woman Ambassador (or High Commissioner) also. She is remembered for her successful crusade for gender equality in the Indian Civil Services.<ref name=MEA>{{cite web|title=WOMEN IN INDIAN FOREIGN SERVICE|url=http://www.mea.gov.in/photo-features.htm?923/WOMEN+IN+INDIAN+FOREIGN+SERVICE|website=Ministry of External Affairs|publisher=Government of India|access-date=11 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Women in India's Foreign Service|url=http://nchro.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6930:women-in-indias-foreign-service&catid=44:women&Itemid=45|website=NCHRO|publisher=Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (CHRO)|access-date=11 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="News Blog">{{cite web|last1=Rajagopalan|first1=Swarna|last2=Baruah|first2=Amit|title=Women in the Indian Foreign Service|url=http://keepingcount.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/women-in-the-indian-foreign-service/|website=Hindustan Times Blog, "Wordly Wise"/ PSW Weblog|access-date=11 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="Deccan Herald">{{cite news|last1=Bhaumik|first1=Anirban|last2=Arun|first2=B S|title=Diva of diplomacy|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/35638/content/216934/archives.php|access-date=11 October 2014|agency=Deccan Herald|publisher=Deccan Herald|date=13 November 2009}}</ref>

==Early life==
Chonira Belliappa Muthamma was born on 24 January 1924 in [[Virajpet]] in [[Coorg]].<ref name=TwoCircles>{{cite web|last1=IANS|title=First woman IFS officer Muthamma dies|url=http://twocircles.net/2009oct14/first_woman_ifs_officer_muthamma_dies.html#.VDlwjCmSw_4|website=TwoCircles.net|publisher=TwoCircles.net|access-date=11 October 2014}}</ref> Her father, who was a [[Indian Forest Service|forest officer]], died when she was nine years old. Muthamma's mother committed herself to the cause of getting the best education her four children.<ref name="Ministry of EA">{{cite news|title=Foreign Secretary's speech at Lady Shri Ram College for Women on: "Strategy Roundtable on women in public service in South Asia: Educating for Public Leadership"|url=http://www.mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/23232/Foreign+Secretarys+speech+at+Lady+Shri+Ram+College+for+Women+on+quotStrategy+Roundtable+on+women+in+public+service+in+South+Asia+Educating+for+Public+Leadershipquot|access-date=11 October 2014|agency=MEA|publisher=MEA|date=31 March 2014}}</ref><ref name=thesop>{{cite web|last1=Basu|first1=Nupur|title=Muthamma Joined the IFS in 1949 Making History|url=http://thesop.org/story/world/2009/12/08/muthamma-joined-the-ifs-in-1949-making-history.php|website=thesop|publisher=thesop|access-date=11 October 2014}}</ref> Muthamma completed her schooling in St.Joseph’s Girls School in [[Madikeri]], and graduated from the [[Women's Christian College, Chennai]] ([[Madras]] at that point) with a triple gold medal. She then attained a [[Master of Arts]] degree in [[English Literature]] from [[Presidency College, Chennai|Presidency College]].<ref name="C.B. Muthamma passes away">{{cite news|last1=Correspondent|first1=Special|title=C.B. Muthamma passes away|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article162436.ece|access-date=11 October 2014|agency=The Hindu|work=The Hindu|date=15 October 2009}}</ref>

Muthamma became the first woman to join the [[Indian Civil Services]] by clearing the [[Union Public Service Commission|UPSC examination]] in 1948. She finished at the top of the list of candidates who has applied for the [[Indian Foreign Service]] that year and went on to join the service in 1949.<ref name="Ministry of EA"/><ref name=thesop/> When she entered the service, Muthamma was made to sign an undertaking that she would resign from her job once she got married.<ref name="News Blog"/>

==Career==
Muthamma was first posted to the Indian Embassy at Paris.<ref name="Ministry of EA"/> She also went on to serve as a diplomat in Rangoon, London, and on the Pakistan and America Desks in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.<ref name=thesop/> She was appointed India’s Ambassador to Hungary in 1970. She thus became the first woman from within the service to be appointed Ambassador. Later, she served as ambassador in Accra in Ghana, and afterwards she was made the Indian Ambassador to The Hague in the Netherlands.<ref name="Deccan Herald"/><ref name="C.B. Muthamma passes away"/>

==Crusade for gender equality==
Muthamma is known for her successful crusade for [[gender equality]] in the [[Indian Civil Service]]. The Indian Ministry for external affairs had not promoted CB Muthamma to the post of foreign secretary.<ref name=Kafila>{{cite web|last1=Menon|first1=Nivedita|title=Monobina Gupta on Inconvenient Women|url=http://kafila.org/2007/12/19/monobina-gupta-on-inconvenient-women/|website=Kafila|publisher=Kafila|access-date=11 October 2014}}</ref> Muthamma had to take the Ministry of External Affairs to court when she was denied promotion to Grade I of the service on grounds of "merit".<ref name="News Blog"/> She petitioned the government, claiming that she had been overlooked for promotion and that the rules governing the employment were discriminatory. The Ministry promptly promoted her, hoping that the Supreme Court would dismiss the case. The Supreme Court dismissed the case only after ruling that the issues raised by the petitioner could not be dismissed. Her case was upheld in 1979 in a landmark judgment by a three-member Bench headed by Justice [[V.R. Krishna Iyer]] which emphasized "the need to overhaul all service rules to remove the stains of sex discrimination, without waiting for ad-hoc inspiration from writ petitions or gender charity." This did not deter the then Foreign Secretary, who sent a circular to women officers, threatening to remove them from their posts for seeking "special privileges". One of these alleged special privileges was the women wanting to be with their husbands. These details find mention in her 2003 book "Slain by the System".<ref name="News Blog"/> She retired from the IFS in 1982 after 32 years of service.<ref name="Deccan Herald"/><ref name=TwoCircles/>

Justice Krishna Iyer’s judgment of Muthamma's case described the Foreign Service as ‘misogynist.’<ref name=Kafila/> To show the existence of gender discrimination in the services, Iyer cited Rule 8 (2) of the Indian Foreign Service (Conduct and Discipline) Rules which stated that, "a woman member of the service shall obtain the permission of the government in writing before her marriage is solemnised. Any time after the marriage, a woman member of the Service may be required to resign from Service, if the government is satisfied that her family and domestic commitments are likely to come in the way of due and efficient discharge of her duties as a member of the Service." The Supreme Court Judgement ensured that henceforth it was not mandatory for women officers in the IFS to seek government permission for getting married.<ref name=Kafila/><ref>{{cite web|title=C. B. MUTHAMMA versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS|url=http://www.rishabhdara.com/sc/view.php?case=6961|website=rishabhdara|publisher=rishabhdara|access-date=11 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Krishnaiyer|first1=V|title=Supreme Court of India C. B. Muthamma vs Union Of India & Ors on 17 September, 1979|url=http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1339558/?type=print|website=indiankanoon|publisher=indiankanoon|access-date=11 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Iyear|first1=Krishna|last2=Swam|first2=Krishna|title=V.R. Krishna Iyer a Living Legend (reprint)|date=1 January 2004|publisher=Universal Law Publishing|isbn=9788175341586|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CP03p-LiDCAC&q=the+need+to+overhaul+all+service+rules+to+remove+the+stains+of+sex+discrimination%2C+without+waiting+for+ad-hoc+inspiration+from+writ+petitions+or+gender+charity&pg=PA229|access-date=11 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Sudarshan|first1=V|title=Mama MEA|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?223122|access-date=11 October 2014|agency=Outlook|publisher=Outlook|date=1 March 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018083637/http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?223122|archive-date=18 October 2014}}</ref>

==Other notable works==
After retirement, she became the Indian member of the Independent Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues set up by the then Swedish Prime Minister, [[Olof Palme]]. Her last major published work was a collection of essays titled ''Slain by the System'' published in 2003 by Viveka Foundation.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rajan|first1=Anjana|title=A true Indian's call for true democracy|url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/04/24/stories/2003042400400100.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030620004255/http://thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/04/24/stories/2003042400400100.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 June 2003|access-date=11 October 2014|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=24 April 2003}}</ref>

Muthamma was also a passionate environmentalist and a culinary enthusiast as well. She had also co-authored a book on [[Kodava people|Kodava]] cuisine called 'The Essential Kodava Cookbook'.<ref name=TwoCircles/><ref name=thesop/> A known [[Philanthropy|philanthropist]], she donated a large tract of personal land, amounting to approximately 15 acres in [[Delhi]], to The [[Missionaries of Charity]] where a school for orphans has been started.<ref name="muthamma_joined_ifs">{{cite web |url=http://thesop.org/story/world/2009/12/08/muthamma-joined-the-ifs-in-1949-making-history.php |title=Muthamma joined the IFS in 1949}}</ref> The week she died she signed a cheque for a library in Gonikoppal High School and for a business management college building in Virajpet in her native place. The manuscript she wrote on her mother as a tribute she owed for all her achievements was ready to be published posthumously.<ref name="muthamma_joined_ifs"/>

She died aged 85 at a private hospital in Bangalore in 2009.<ref name="Deccan Herald"/><ref name=TwoCircles/><ref name="C.B. Muthamma passes away"/><ref>{{cite web|last1=LIFS|title=India's First Woman Diplomat|url=http://www.littleindia.com/odds-ends/5618-india%E2%80%99s-first-woman-diplomat.html|website=Little India|publisher=Little India|access-date=11 October 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704135751/http://www.littleindia.com/odds-ends/5618-india%E2%80%99s-first-woman-diplomat.html|archive-date=4 July 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Vikas Swarup]]
*[[Navtej Sarna]]
*[[Taranjit Singh Sandhu]]
*[[Harsh Vardhan Shringla]]

== References ==

{{reflist}}


== External links ==
* [http://www.thestorez.com/index.php/the-essential-kodava-cookbook-0140288589-qjofmbmjon.html "The Essential Kodava Cookbook", by C.B. Muthamma at TheStorez.com Online Bookstore]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080922230304/http://www.indiaclub.com/Shop/AuthorSelect.asp?Author=C+B+Muthamma C. B. Muthamma at IndiaClub]
* [http://www.flipkart.com/books/Slain-By-The-System/C-B-Muthamma/8188251119/EW23FZV46E.html "Slain By The System" at FlipKart]{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [https://archive.today/20130131105809/http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20060207&fname=indous&sid=1 Present A Full Picture To The Indian Public] (requires free registration with The Outlook magazine to permit browsing of its archives)

{{Kodagu (Coorg) topics}}
{{Indian civil servants}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muthamma, C. B.}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:Kodava people]]
[[Category:Indian civil servants]]
[[Category:People from Kodagu district]]
[[Category:Indian diplomats]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to the Netherlands]]

[[es:Chonira Beliappa Muthamma]]

C. B. Muthamma - Revision history

imported>Novem Linguae at 04:35, 4 August 2021