'Time to Live the Dreams I Saw for My People': IAS Divya Mittal Resigns After ‘Unforgettable’ 13-Year Journey in Service

New Delhi: Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Divya Mittal has voluntarily resigned from the service after 13 years, announcing the decision in a heartfelt post on X.

Mittal described the step as the end of “an unforgettable 13-year journey.” Reflecting on her path, she recalled growing up in humble surroundings and aspiring for a successful life. After studying at IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore, she secured a job in London. Yet, she said, even after achieving “everything,” something felt incomplete. Being away from India weighed on her. Viewing her education and confidence as a debt owed to the country, she returned home and joined the IAS, determined to leave her “handprints on the bricks that would build the India I had dreamed of.”

During her tenure, postings in Deoria and Mirzapur shaped her deeply. Deoria taught her that standing with what is right is a duty, not a choice. Mirzapur showed her that “impossible” is merely an opinion. At the feet of Goddess Vindhyavasini at her temple in Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur, she learned that true power comes from grace and public trust rather than position. The greatest realisation, she wrote, was that her personal dreams had already come true; it was time to live the dreams she held for the people.

Mittal highlighted the quiet moments of fulfilment: a family receiving land rights for the first time, a differently-abled person gaining dignity, and a farmer finally getting water for his fields.

“Behind every government file is a person, and upholding their dignity is what justice truly means,” she observed. She admitted she had been “a fool to think I had come to give something.” Instead, she received far more -- love, respect, and belonging -- from the people and the colleagues who stood by her.

One scene, she said, remains with her, that of an elderly mother from Lahuriya Dih who, upon seeing water reach her village for the first time, said nothing but touched Mittal’s head with trembling hands and blessed her.

“The position may be left behind today, but that touch will never leave me in this lifetime,” Mittal wrote. The dream the soil of the country gave her, she added, will also endure.

Her resignation marks the close of a chapter defined by public service, personal growth, and deep gratitude.