‘I was foolish to believe…’: Retired IAS officer Divya Mittal writes about serving in rural India; social media react | Today’s news

Divya Mittal returned from London thinking she owed India a debt. Now, 13 years later, she has quit the IAS. He feels that the debt has only grown. This reversal gives her resignation a significance beyond that of another senior officer leaving the civil service. The IAS officer shared his version in a detailed post on social media.

Divya Mittal announced her voluntary resignation on 30 August. The 2013 Uttar Pradesh cadre officer did not give a specific reason. However, her farewell focused less on future plans than on past encounters.

She studied at IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore before securing a job in London. Nevertheless, her professional successes abroad left her with an unpleasant feeling of incompleteness.

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“I grew up in an ordinary environment and dreamed of living a good and successful life… However, even after achieving ‘everything’, something still felt incomplete. Being away from my country worried me,” she wrote.

Mittal believed that her education and self-confidence came from Indian soil. Returning home became her way of repaying this obligation.

The state administration then transformed this abstract patriotism into everyday human contact. Mittal served as District Magistrate (DM) in Sant Kabir Nagar, Mirzapur and Deoria.

She dealt with files relating to land, disability support, agriculture and basic public services. She realized that each document represented someone waiting for dignity.

“I have been given many opportunities to serve and have learned immensely. Deoria taught me that supporting what is right is not optional. It is a duty. Mirzapur taught me that ‘impossible’ is not a fact. It is only an opinion,” Mittal wrote.

“Sitting at Mother Vindhyavasini’s feet taught me another important lesson. Power does not come from position. It comes from her blessings and people’s trust,” she added.

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One memory became the emotional center of her farewell. Lahuria Dah, a remote village in Mirzapur, was struggling without access to drinking water. The geography of the hills made a permanent solution seem almost impossible. Residents depended on tankers and distant sources for their needs.

During Mittal’s posting to Mirzapur, officials pushed for the piped water project. Clean water has finally reached village homes after decades of hardship. A celebration ensued, but Mittal remembers one quiet response most clearly.

“An elderly mother lived on Lahuria Dah Hill. She saw the water coming into her village for the first time. She didn’t say anything. She just touched my head with trembling hands and blessed me,” Mittal recalled.

“I was foolish to believe that I came to give something. The truth is that I got the most. My debt to people kept growing,” she wrote further.

“Today I left my position. However, that touch will remain with me for the rest of my life. The dream that the soil of this country gave me will also remain,” she concluded.

Social networks are responding

Social media reacted emotionally to Divya Mittal’s post.

“Your emotional and inspirational post touches the heart deeply. Congratulations and our sincere appreciation for your 13 years of dedicated public service,” wrote one user.

“It is a great loss to our society as sincere IAS officers like you are rare in the country. You had to take this decision after careful consideration. But as an officer you had much more to contribute to the society,” wrote another user.

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One user asked: “Why did you resign? When an officer walks away from his duties, there are usually two reasons. One is political ambition and the other is frustration with a corrupt system.”

“For an honest, compassionate and people-oriented officer like you, the position was only a responsibility. It never defined your identity. You proved that compassion, courage and duty can remain paramount even within the administrative system,” chimed in another.