Divya Mittal quits IAS, enters politics: Why are mid-career civil servants shunning bureaucracy?

Former IAS officer Divya Mittal has announced her entry into politics as an independent, saying she would begin her political journey from Uttar Pradesh and strive to become the voice of people whose grievances often fail to reach government offices.

Mittal, a 2013-batch officer, resigned from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) after a 13-year career on 30 August. Her decision comes months ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Mittal was the special secretary in the Revenue Department in Lucknow when she tendered her resignation. She had earlier notably worked as the district magistrate in Deoria, Mirzapur and Sant Kabir Nagar.

During her tenure as Mirzapur district magistrate, she had gained widespread attention after tap water was brought for the first time to Lahuriadah, a remote hill village in Halia block, 75 years after Independence.

Mittal's resignation has put the spotlight on the larger question about whybureaucrats, in the prime of their careers, decide to quit. Is is becasue the civil service is losing its charm for the new generation or are they disappointed with work culture? Or is it greener pastures that male make them change their career paths?

Mittal is not the first IAS officer to put in her papers. Before her, Rinku Singh Rahi, a 2022-batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer, resigned early this year. Rahi had then blamed lack of meaningful work as the reason. Rahi, however, changed his mind later and joined the services back.

Over a dozen IAS officers in UP have resigned in recent years, many of them exploring other options. Rajiv Agarwal, 1993-batch UP cadre IAS officer, is working as senior vice president, Samsung (India and Southwest Asia) after his stints with Uber and Facebook.

Amod Kumar from 1995 batch sought voluntary retirement from service and is said to be working in the corporate sector.

What Divya Mittal said?

An alumni of IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore and a former Wall Street trader, Mittal cited several experiences from her administrative career to explain her decision, including the case of a woman in a hilly village who, despite lacking water at home, sought a school beyond Class 5 for children in her village.

She said the school was approved but had not started construction even after three years, questioning whether the delay was due to lack of funds, rules or approval, or simply lack of intent.

Recalling another case from her tenure as special secretary in the Revenue Department, Mittal said a landless man, who had received a government land allotment, did not get possession of the land despite having the necessary documents.

She alleged that an incorrect report in the matter was subsequently withdrawn after intervention, but said efforts to secure possession later encountered an instruction that it had been stopped "from above".

Mittal said she wanted to raise questions about such cases, as well as infrastructure gaps, road conditions, deaths allegedly linked to poor infrastructure, examination-related concerns and the future of young people amid the growth of artificial intelligence.

She said politics should focus on "intent, justice, concern and thought" rather than merely changing individual political leaders.

"The objective is not only to change one politician; politics has to change," she said.

Mittal sais she is not entering politics under the banner of any existing political party. Instead, she said, she would build a platform with citizens who supported her and would not be deterred by money, muscle power or caste and religious calculations.

"I'm not afraid. I will keep asking questions," she said, adding that she wanted to create a platform that would be concerned about the country's future.

On 30 August, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav alleged that honest officials in Uttar Pradesh were being pressured under the Bharatiya Janata Party government to indulge in "unethical and illegal" activities.

‘Being forced to indulge in corruption’

Yadav, in a post on X, listed several ways in which he alleged officials were being pressured.

He alleged that officials were being forced to indulge in corruption through commissions, manipulate tenders to favour BJP workers, turn transfers and postings into a business and facilitate collection through donation slips.

He also alleged that pressure was being exerted on officials to register false cases against Opposition leaders, suppress cases of custodial deaths, facilitate fake encounters of political opponents and extort money by threatening encounters.

The SP chief further alleged that officials were being pressured to conceal cases involving atrocities against PDA (backwards, Dalits and minorities) communities, extort money from businessmen, suppress rape and kidnapping cases and hide alleged encroachments by BJP workers.

He accused the government of pressuring officials to facilitate the movement of goods across state borders, pass off adulterated products as genuine and ignore the alleged harassment of farmers, labourers, women and youth.

Yadav also alleged that officials were being asked to suppress cases of untouchability, avoid registering FIRs in temple theft cases (Ayodhya) and protect influential individuals through a "cover-up".

"There are countless other instances where the BJP government puts pressure on officials to carry out unethical and illegal acts, because of which they are even forced to resign," Yadav said in his post.

"Governance and administration cannot function without honest officials," he added.

The remarks came after Divya Mittal announced her resignation from the service.

Who else resigned?

Among other officers who resigned include Vikas Gothalwal, a former IAS officer of the 2003-batch. Gothawal is now an independent advisor on public policy, health systems and governance, according to information available on social media. Abhishek Singh (2011 batch) resigned to pursue a career as an actor, singer, lyricist and composer.

Elsewhere too, the trend is catching up. Last year, 1991-batch IAS officer S Siddharth, the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) of the Bihar Education Department, who resigned from his post by submitting his VRS application on July 17. Siddharth was scheduled to retire in November 2025, but his early exit has ignited political speculation.

Others who took the plunge in politics are six retired IAS officers who joined the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), floated by poll strategist Prashant Kishor. Out of the six — who have served on different posts in Bihar and elsewhere — two were from the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) and four from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

Experts said the decisions are mostly personal or political. Many officials see electoral politics as a natural extension of public service, they say.

“IAS is obviously an elite profession. But once you join, you may feel the fatigue of government functioning. Working in corporate or private sector seems glamorous for some. But that also depends on what actually you want from life,” said a retired IAS officer who doesn't want to be named.

From Civil Service to Politics

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections saw high-profile entrants, like former ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu, ex-IAS officer Parampal Kaur Sidhu, and ex-IPS officer K Annamalai who eventually became BJP's Tamil Nadu chief before party ways.

Many former civil servants became politicians. Ajit Jogi was the first IAS officer to become a Chief Minister. He took charge when Chhattisgarh became a new state in 2000. Since then, many IAS and other civil service officers have moved from office work to active politics.

I'm not afraid. I will keep asking questions.

Yashwant Sinha, Arvind Kejriwal, RK Singh, Hardeep Puri, Manu Shankar Aiyar, RCP Singh, and S Jaishankar are popular political figures who were civil servants as well.