16 November 2026
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From UP to UN: An IAS Officer’s Odyssey

Indian Masterminds Stories

‘Small Cogs in a Large Wheel’ is the memoir of former 1981 batch IAS officer Naresh Nandan Prasad. Besides serving in three states of India, he also served at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation and the World Intellectual Property Organisation, because of which, he was known as the international bureaucrat.

He started writing about his bureaucratic experiences, that included some of the turning points in the country like the Babri Masjid demolition, on his mobile phone! However, he passed away suddenly a year back leaving his wife, who is also a retired IAS officer, and his only daughter Urvashi Prasad bereaved and devastated.

It is this daughter, Urvashi Prasad, a Director at NITI Aayog, who has published her father’s precious writings saved carefully on his mobile phone. The book titled ‘Small Cogs in a Large Wheel’ is being launched today in New Delhi. It is a happy day for Ms. Prasad and her family members to witness Mr. Naresh Nandan Prasad’s memoir being finally released. At the same time, the book launch will no doubt make powerful memories come alive, as family and friends recount the life and works of the Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer who also served at the international level.

Watch this video interview of his daughter, Ms. Urvashi Prasad, Director at NITI Aayog, to know more about late Naresh Nandan Prasad:


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