Daulat Desai is an IAS officer from 2008 batch. Daulat Desai was working as Joint Director of the Medical Education and Drugs Department (MEDD) located in Pune, Maharashtra. He was a pass out from Monash University and received his early education from Sindhudurg. He went to pursue his higher educations from Netherlands, and then Hungary as well. Desai is married to Tejaswini and has two children – Yugandhar and Eka.

Daulat Desai resigning with his family members and colleagues

He has now resigned from the elite service leaving a long post on social media post. He stated that it was quite depressing to lie dumped in the backyard. Earlier he was a collector of Kolhapur after which, he was transferred to MEDD as a senior bureaucrat. While being a collector he handled the flood of 2019 which ravaged the western district of Maharashtra. He was largely appreciated because of this as the flood caused huge damage to the agriculture, property and human lives.

Resignation of Daulat Desai

Desai’s depressing post after resigning led to many speculations that he was being side lined. This was sad, even after doing such a renowned job during previous postings. Desai later clarified stating that he decided to quit for other reasons. It was because he wanted to pursue new things in life. Moreover, he didn’t want to wait till the age of retirement. He also stated that he doesn’t believe in the concept of doing a single renowned job till retirement. He said that he had mixed feelings about resigning and voluntarily stepping out from a so-called steel frame and leaving all the power, fame, status and prestige of being an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.

Daulat Desi during Kolhapur flood relief

Daulat Desai’s Posting at MEDD

The officer referred to that post and clarified about him feeling dumped in the backyard. By this, he meant about the previous posting at Kolhapur which was a happening place whereas, the recent posting felt relatively quiet. He felt like the civil service was giving him tremendous exposure, recognition and opportunities to serve the people of our country. He said “I was very fortunate to be one of the very few! It was a very satisfying and exciting journey full of surprises and successes”.

Daulat Desai holds meeting at MEDD during Covid-19 crisis

The Real Reason for Resignation

Desai always listened to the voices of the needy and weak people and ignored the interests of strong, powerful and established ones in the hierarchy. He faced criticism from the dissatisfied people but he did whatever he could do within the framework of rules and regulations. Desai did everything for the betterment of society. He said that his decisions were always right and he never regretted it later. His hands trembled but his decisions didn’t. He mentions that his family went through a lot of sufferings because of his post and that he feels guilty for his family.

Takeaway

So, it was time for him to leave behind the aura of an IAS officer and work and live as a common man with common problems in his life. He says that he has no regrets at all making this decision and that he never regretted one in his life. Desai was drawn a monthly salary of over one lakh and was also provided with a government vehicle for accommodation. Many new IAS aspirants like Shruti Sharma who was recently the topper of the UPSC exams, may want to follow in Desai’s footsteps. Only time will tell whether the new generation will carry Desai’s legacy forward.