Divya Mittal, who gained recognition for bringing piped water to a distant hilly village in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh when she was posted there as District Justice of the Peace three years in the past, on Sunday introduced her resignation from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) after a 13-year stint.
Asserting her resignation in a social media publish, the 42-year-old officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre mentioned she was now able to “transfer on” from a journey by which she had learnt extra from the folks she served than she had given them.
“Right this moment, I’ve voluntarily stepped away from an unforgettable 13-year journey by resigning from the IAS,” the 2013-batch IAS officer mentioned in a social media publish.
Up to now 13 years, Mittal has been posted in a number of districts, together with Meerut, Gonda, Kanpur Nagar, Bareilly, and Sant Kabir Nagar. She served as district Justice of the Peace of Mirzapur from September 2022 to September 2023, and later as that of Deoria from July 2024. In Might this yr, she was appointed Particular Secretary, Income Division, in Lucknow.
Mirzapur success, adopted by tough patch
Mittal’s tenure in Mirzapur introduced her appreciable public consideration in 2023, significantly after her intervention led to the supply of piped water to Lahuria Dah village, the place residents had lengthy relied on tankers for ingesting water. However quickly after, she was transferred out of Mirzapur, resulting in public outrage within the district. She was subsequently positioned on the ready listing from September 4, 2023, to February 1, 2024. On February 1, she was posted as CEO of the Uttar Pradesh Rural Street Improvement Company and later served as district Justice of the Peace in Deoria.
Right this moment my coronary heart is full and I’m overwhelmed with feelings. Water is flowing in Lahuriya deh (लहुरियादह) and thru my eyes and the eyes of individuals there.
Even after 75 years of Independence, folks of Lahuria Deh village, Mirzapur didn’t have entry to water! Located on a… pic.twitter.com/zdaOvsGf4v
— Divya Mittal (@divyamittal_IAS) August 30, 2023
Her stint in Mirzapur continued to be mentioned even after she left the district. She had developed a particular administrative type, utilizing social media to speak authorities schemes and administrative selections on to folks and responding publicly to complaints.
In her social media publish, she remembered her Mirzapur posting most vividly. Recalling the day water lastly reached the distant hilly village, she wrote about an aged girl who mentioned nothing. As a substitute, with trembling palms, the girl touched her head and blessed her. “The place could also be left behind at present, however that contact won’t ever go away me on this lifetime,” Mittal wrote.
She mentioned Mirzapur had taught her that “unimaginable” shouldn’t be a truth, however simply an opinion.
Thanks folks, silent on future plans
Her farewell notice additionally recalled households receiving land rights for the primary time, a differently-abled particular person getting a chance to reside with dignity, and farmers lastly getting water to their fields. “Behind each authorities file is an individual, and upholding their dignity is what justice really means,” she wrote.
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Mittal mentioned she initially believed she had entered public service to provide one thing to society. “I used to be a idiot to assume I had come to provide one thing. The reality is, I obtained essentially the most, and that debt solely grew deeper,” she wrote.
She credited the folks, officers, colleagues, and workers members who stood by her by means of her profession. “Individuals have been happier for my pleasure than I used to be myself,” she mentioned, including that their belief gave her the braveness to proceed even when she was “exhausted or damaged”.
Mittal didn’t specify what she had deliberate to do after quitting the IAS. In her last message, Mittal mentioned the desires she had as soon as seen for herself had already come true. “Now, it was time to reside the desires I noticed for my folks,” she wrote.
Sources mentioned that she plans to pursue teachers and ebook writing. There are additionally speculations about her becoming a member of politics.
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Akhilesh accuses BJP govt of forcing officers to give up
In the meantime, amid Mittal’s resignation, Samajwadi Social gathering president Akhilesh Yadav alleged that sincere officers in Uttar Pradesh have been being pressured below the BJP authorities to take pleasure in “unethical and unlawful” actions, forcing them to give up the service.
“There are numerous different situations the place the BJP authorities places strain on officers to hold out unethical and unlawful acts, due to which they’re even pressured to resign,” the Opposition chief wrote in a publish on X.
उप्र में भाजपा सरकार के भ्रष्टाचार के कारण ईमानदार अधिकारी निम्नलिखित कई तरह के दबाव में हैं :
– कमीशनख़ोरी से भ्रष्टाचार करने
– भाजपाइयों को टेंडर दिलवाने में हेराफेरी करने
– ट्रांसफ़र-पोस्टिंग को धंधा बनाते हुए पैसे लेने
– चंदा-पर्ची कटवाकर वसूली करवाने
– विपक्ष पर…— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) August 30, 2026
He alleged that officers have been being pressured to take pleasure in corruption by means of commissions, manipulate tenders to favour BJP staff, flip transfers and postings right into a enterprise, and facilitate assortment by means of donation slips. He additionally alleged that strain was being exerted on officers to register false instances towards Opposition leaders, suppress instances of custodial deaths, facilitate pretend encounters of political opponents and extort cash by threatening encounters.
“Governance and administration can’t operate with out sincere officers,” he added.
Her journey: IIT-Delhi pupil to London dealer to Deoria DM
Mittal, who studied at IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore, mentioned she grew up in “humble environment” and had initially dreamt of a profitable life. After her research, she obtained a job as an unique derivatives trader in London. However being away from India left her feeling that “one thing was incomplete”. “My training, my confidence, the energy to stroll tall wherever on the earth — all of it was a debt owed to this soil. That debt needed to be repaid,” she wrote.
She returned to India and have become an IAS officer.
She was awarded the Ashok Bambawale Award at LBSNAA, Mussoorie, for excellent efficiency in the course of the two-year IAS coaching programme.
