I was foolish to think...: IAS officer Divya Mittal quits, shares note on why

IAS officer Divya Mittal, a 2013-batch officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, announced her resignation from service on Sunday through a social media post, in which she reflected on her "unforgettable" 13-year journey.She penned her emotions in a deeply poetic note (originally in Hindi), saying she was resigning voluntarily and that while her stint as a public servant was coming to an end, the dream given to her by the "soil of the country" would live with her.Mittal also revisited her journey: from studying at IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore and working in London, to becoming an IAS officer."Having grown up in humble surroundings, I had dreamed of a good, successful life. After burning the midnight oil to study at IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore, I landed a job in London. But even after attaining 'everything,' something still felt incomplete. Being away from my country weighed on me," she wrote. Mittal said she felt a calling to repay the "debt" she owed to India. "That debt had to be repaid. I wanted my handprints on the bricks that would build the India I had dreamed of. So I returned, and was fortunate enough to become an IAS officer," she wrote.She looked back on how her various postings shaped her understanding of public service and taught her important lessons. Deoria, she said, taught her that standing up for what is right is not an option but a duty, while Mirzapur taught her that “impossible” is merely an opinion, not a fact. In a show of gratitude, Mittal said that her devotion towards Maa Vindhyavasini taught her that true power comes "not from any position," but from the grace of god and the trust of the people.Describing the most significant realisation of her career as an IAS officer, Mittal said she eventually understood that the dreams she had once seen for herself had already come true. It was then, she said, that she felt it was time to “live the dreams” she had envisioned for the people of the nation.Mittal said some of the most fulfilling moments of her career came in seeing families receive land rights for the first time, persons with disabilities gain the opportunity to live with dignity, and farmers finally get water for their fields."I was a fool to think I had come to give something. The truth is, I received the most, and that debt only grew deeper. People were happier for my joy than I was myself. They looked at me with the same trust even when I was exhausted or broken. And it was that which gave me the courage to keep going," she wrote.- EndsPublished On: Aug 30, 2026 13:04 IST