Lucknow: 2013-batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer Divya Mittal has voluntarily resigned from the Indian Administrative Service after an eventful 13-year career in public service. Announcing her decision on August 30, 2026, Mittal looked back on her journey from an elite academic and corporate career in London to grassroots administration in Uttar Pradesh, saying that the people and experiences she encountered during her service had left her with a deep sense of gratitude.
In a detailed social media post, Mittal said she had voluntarily brought an end to an “unforgettable 13-year journey” in the IAS. Before joining the civil services, she had graduated from IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore and worked in London as an exotic derivatives trader.
Despite having what appeared to be a successful life abroad, Mittal said she felt that something was incomplete because she was away from her own country. She eventually returned to India, cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination with an All India Rank of 68 and joined the IAS in 2013.
From IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore to London Finance
Mittal grew up in modest surroundings and had initially dreamed of building a good and successful life. Her academic journey took her to the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, where she completed her B.Tech in Engineering, followed by a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.
After completing her education, she moved to London and worked as an Exotic Derivatives Trader. However, despite a financially successful career and the comforts of life abroad, she felt increasingly disconnected from her home country.
In her resignation message, Mittal said her education, confidence and ability to hold her head high anywhere in the world were ultimately gifts of the soil of her country. She felt she had to repay that debt and wanted to contribute directly to building the India she had envisioned.
That desire brought her back to India and eventually into the civil services.
Cleared UPSC With AIR 68 After First Getting IPS
Ms Mittal’s journey to the IAS was itself marked by determination. After returning to India, she prepared for the UPSC Civil Services Examination.
In her first attempt, she was selected for the Indian Police Service and allotted the Gujarat cadre. However, driven by a desire to work more directly in grassroots administration, she appeared for the examination again.
She subsequently cleared the Civil Services Examination with All India Rank 68 and joined the 2013-batch IAS in the Uttar Pradesh cadre.
Over the next 13 years, she served in several important administrative positions, including district-level assignments and senior postings in the state government.
Deoria Taught Her to Stand Up for What Is Right
Looking back at her career, IAS Mittal specifically recalled her experience in Deoria, saying the district taught her that standing up for what is right is not merely an option but a duty.
Her tenure in Deoria was also associated with Operation Kabza Mukti, a community-oriented drive aimed at freeing government land from illegal encroachments. According to the material detailing her career, the initiative helped liberate hundreds of acres of government land through an approach that focused on peaceful administrative action rather than brute force.
For Mittal, however, the experience went beyond an administrative achievement. She said her years in service taught her that behind every government file is a human being whose dignity must remain at the centre of governance.
Mirzapur and the 75-Year Wait for Tap Water
Her tenure as District Magistrate of Mirzapur became one of the defining chapters of her administrative career.
Among the projects associated with her tenure was the effort to provide piped tap water to residents of Lahuria Deh, a remote village that had reportedly remained without a piped water supply for around 75 years.
The challenge was considered difficult because of the geographical and financial constraints involved. Mittal coordinated with Jal Nigam engineers and worked on redesigning the water-lifting system to make the project viable.
The effort eventually brought running tap water to the homes of 125 families in the village.
The experience became particularly emotional for Mittal. In her resignation message, she recalled an elderly woman from the hills of Lahuria Dah who, after seeing water reach her village for the first time, did not say anything but simply touched Mittal’s head with trembling hands and blessed her.
Ms Mittal said that she may have relinquished her official position, but that touch would remain with her forever.
‘Impossible’ Is Merely an Opinion
Reflecting on her time in Mirzapur, Mittal said the district taught her that “impossible” is not a fact, but merely an opinion.
She also referred to her association with Goddess Vindhyavasini, saying that sitting at her feet taught her that true power does not come from a position but from divine grace and the trust of the people.
These experiences, she said, fundamentally changed the way she viewed public service.
According to Mittal, the dreams she had once held for herself had been fulfilled. The next task was to live out the dreams she held for the people she served.
Land Rights, Dignity and Water Became Her Greatest Lessons
Mittal said the most meaningful moments of her career came through the direct impact of administration on people’s lives.
She recalled families receiving land rights for the first time, differently-abled people gaining opportunities to live with dignity and farmers finally receiving water for their fields.
Walking alongside people through their struggles, she said, taught her an important lesson: behind every government file is a human being.
For Mittal, protecting that person’s dignity was the true essence of justice.
‘I Was Foolish to Think I Had Come to Give Something’
In her resignation message, Mittal also reflected on how her perception of public service changed over the years.
She wrote that she had initially been foolish to think she had come to give something to people. In reality, she felt that she was the one who had gained the most.
The gratitude she received from people, she said, only continued to grow. People celebrated her happiness even more than she did herself, while their unwavering faith in her gave her courage during periods when she felt exhausted or broken.
She expressed particular gratitude to the colleagues, officers and staff members who worked alongside her and remained steadfast throughout her journey.
She said the love, respect and sense of belonging she received had left her heart “truly full.”
An Emotional Farewell to Public Service
“Today, my eyes are moist,” Mittal wrote while announcing her departure from the IAS.
The image of the elderly woman from Lahuria Deh remained particularly powerful for her. The woman had witnessed water reaching her village for the first time and responded by silently touching Mittal’s head and blessing her.
For the officer, that moment represented something larger than an administrative achievement. It symbolised the human connection that she had developed during her years in public service.
She said that although she had left the official position behind, the woman’s touch and the dream that the country’s soil had given her would remain with her.
From District Administration to Senior State Government Posts
During her 13-year career, Mittal held a range of assignments across Uttar Pradesh and the central government.
Her postings included District Magistrate and Collector, Vice Chairman, Joint Managing Director, Chief Development Officer, Joint Magistrate and Assistant Secretary roles.
She served as District Magistrate of Sant Kabir Nagar, Deoria and Mirzapur, besides holding positions including Vice Chairman of the Bareilly Development Authority, Joint Managing Director of UPSIDA, and Chief Development Officer in Gonda.
She also served as an Assistant Secretary at NITI Aayog.
Immediately before her resignation, Mittal was serving as Special Secretary in the Revenue Department, Uttar Pradesh, a position she had held since May 11, 2026.
Recognition During Her Career
Mittal also received recognition during her administrative career.
During the foundation training component at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, she received the Ashok Bambawale Memorial Award for outstanding overall performance in her batch.
She has also been associated with the Summer Undergraduate Research Award.
Her career combined high-level academic credentials with field-level administrative work, with her assignments spanning district administration, development authorities, industrial development, policy work and the state government’s senior administrative structure.
A Profile Marked by Elite Education and Grassroots Administration
Born on November 23, 1983, Divya Mittal is a 2013-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre. The profile information available in the source identifies her birthplace/home-state background with Delhi, with roots connected to Uttar Pradesh and Rewari in Haryana.
She cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2012 with AIR 68 and joined the IAS in 2013.
Her husband, Gagandeep Singh, is also an IAS officer and an alumnus of the institutions attended by Mittal.
The combination of an IIT-IIM education, a London finance career and subsequent public service made Mittal’s career distinctive within the bureaucracy.
Why Divya Mittal Left the IAS
In her resignation message, Mittal did not frame her departure as a rejection of public service. Instead, she described the decision as the closing of an unforgettable chapter after 13 years.
Her reflections indicate that she considers her work with people to have shaped her as much as she was able to influence their lives through administration.
The source material states that after leaving the civil services, she intends to devote the next phase of her life significantly to education, mentoring UPSC aspirants and writing on productivity, decision-making and public policy.
While her formal role in the IAS has ended, she has indicated that her larger ambition of contributing to the country remains alive.
‘The Dreams I Had for Myself Had Been Fulfilled’
The central theme of Mittal’s farewell message was that public service changed the meaning of success for her.
After achieving the academic and professional success she had once dreamed of—from IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore to a finance career in London—she returned to India because she felt something was missing.
Thirteen years later, she leaves the IAS saying that the greatest fulfilment came not from holding an administrative position but from seeing tangible changes in people’s lives.
From land rights and dignity to water reaching villages that had waited for decades, the experiences of Deoria and Mirzapur became enduring lessons for her.
Her resignation therefore marks the end of her formal career in the IAS, but, as she herself indicated, not the end of her commitment to the country or to the people whose lives she encountered during those 13 years.
