Chandigarh, Oct 30 : The Haryana government Friday appointed Urvashi Gulati as the next chief secretary of the state. She is the third woman to be named for the top post in the last four years.

Gulati, a 1975-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, takes over from incumbent Dharam Vir, who retires Saturday. Gulati is currently posted as the financial commissioner-development.    

In 2005, Meenaxi Anand Chaudhary became the first woman chief secretary of Haryana. Promila Issar was appointed to the top bureaucratic job in Aug 2007.    

Incidentally, Haryana has one of the worst sex ratios in the country at just around 800 females per 1,000 males.  (IANS)