UP-Cadre IAS Officer Divya Mittal Resigns After 13-Year Administrative Career
Lahuria Dah in Mirzapur had struggled for decades without regular piped drinking water.
Then IAS officer Divya Mittal, as District Magistrate, pushed through a project that finally brought piped water to the village.
On August 30, 2023, she opened a tap during a small “jal pujan.”
But the local MLA, MP and others had reportedly not been invited.
A local BJP leader, Vipul Singh, complained to CM Yogi Adityanath, citing protocol.
Two days later, Mittal was transferred out of Mirzapur.
And on September 4, the newly laid water pipeline was reportedly broken by unidentified “anti-social elements.”
The water stopped.
Mittal was subsequently put on the waiting list before receiving another posting months later.
Now, three years later, Divya Mittal has resigned from the IAS after 13 years of service.
But here's where the viral story needs a correction:
She has NOT publicly said that she resigned because of the Lahuria episode.
That connection is speculation — not established fact.
Still, the Lahuria story raises an uncomfortable question:
When an officer delivers something as basic as drinking water to people who waited decades, why did the success become a political controversy?
In a major development within the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre of Uttar Pradesh, 2013-batch officer Divya Mittal has voluntarily tendered her resignation, concluding a 13-year administrative tenure. Prior to entering civil services, Mittal completed her B.Tech from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Bangalore before working as an investment banker at JP Morgan in London. Choosing to return to India to engage directly with public administration, she cleared the Civil Services Examination in 2013.
Over the course of her career, she held several key administrative positions, including serving as District Magistrate in Sant Kabir Nagar, Mirzapur, and Deoria, before her final posting as Special Secretary in the Revenue Department in Lucknow.
Announcing her decision through a personal statement on social media, Mittal reflected on her postings and the lessons learned while managing grassroots governance across rural Uttar Pradesh.
She highlighted her stint in Mirzapur, where she led administrative efforts to supply piped drinking water to Lahuriya Dah:
—a remote village long dependent on water tankers
—under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Expressing gratitude for her interactions with local communities, Mittal remarked that public service taught her that upholding individual dignity remains the primary goal of administrative justice.
Her administrative tenure was also marked by notable structural transitions. In September 2023, Mittal was transferred from her post as District Magistrate of Mirzapur following political friction surrounding regional project inaugurations, after which she served as CEO of the UP Rural Roads Development Agency and subsequently as DM of Deoria.
Her mid-career exit has added to ongoing discussions within policy circles regarding the factors influencing high-performing, highly qualified professionals leaving civil services to pursue independent endeavors.
The episode has sparked discussion about bureaucratic independence, political influence, and the difficulties of delivering basic public services to rural communities.