Mr. Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan is a senior IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh (UP: 95 batch) cadre. Presently working as Secretary PWD, UP government. Shri Narayan is a BTech and MTech in electrical engineering and had started his Indian Bureaucracy career as Jt. Magistrate in 1997 and has worked as CDO, Collector and Vice Chairman,LDA. He is very easy going and down to earth bureaucrat but at the same time,very prompt and quick in his decisions.
Mr. Narayan in a candid chat with NorthblockSouthBlock.com Editor, Durgesh Upadhyay talked at length on the many subjects like his career, hobbies etc. Here are the excerpts..
Durgesh Upadhyay– Good Morning to you Sir, first question to you,what prompted you to become an IAS officer and was it you first choice to join the prestigious job?
Mr. Mrityunjay K Narayan- Very Good morning to you also, I come from Bihar and there is lot of craze for Public services like the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) there. Coming from that background it was a natural choice and more importantly, kind of variety this service affords to an individual officer is tremendous.There is lot of diversity in the service and it has public service ethos.You work in so many departments and you get an opportunity to work for the people, particularly those who come from the poor section of the society. You work for them. So the kind of satisfaction this service gives is a kind of unparallel thing. In other services you do not get this kind of opportunity to work for the people in general. All these basically prompted me to select this service and by grace of god I could come to the service.
Durgesh Upadhyay – Sir, tell us something about your memories when you were preparing for this job. How were those days?
Mr. Mrityunjay K Narayan- Actually preparation was started when I was in IIT Kanpur, studying B.Tech in Electrical Engineering. In fourth year people start preparing for the whatever they want to become. In IITs many students prepare for the civil services so did I start preparing for the civil services. meanwhile I could get through the Indian Engineering Services(IES) and that was the first service I joined and there was also the environment of preparing for the Civil services and I had a good experience preparing in a group of talented people.
Durgesh Upadhyay- That’s interesting Sir, you are an IITan so how difficult or easy it was for you to prepare for this prestigious exam?
Mr. Mrityunjay K Narayan- Let me tell you, this exam of course is very difficult.This is one of the most prestigious exam in the country for services so it is not easy for anyone so I can not claim that was easy for me either. Yes it is very difficult for anyone to get through. Hard work combined with luck is helpful in cracking exam. Luck is also the very imp factor in this exam and I have seen many people who were very talented and could have cracked this exam but still luck didn’t favour them. So luck combined with hard work is very essential to get into this service. It requires hard work undoubtedly and if one is focused for this exam the things will get easier
Durgesh Upadhyay- How has been your journey of this top administrative job so far? You have hold so many top posts in these last years?
Mr. Mrityunjay K Narayan – Let me tell you very frankly, the journey so far has been very good, and I am very much satisfied with what I have done. I had the opportunity to work for the people in different capacity like Sub-divisional Magistrate, Chief Development officer, District Magistrate where you have authority as well as opportunity to implement the government policy. Government policies are made at the state headquarter and at the government of India level and they are implemented at the field at cutting edge level, that is district and tehsils. Thus starting at the field level I have got the opportunity to implement those government policies as well as I had got an opportunity to work with the government of India where the policies are made. I could get an opportunity of working at different departments which are concerned with the pubic for eg. health department .Presently I am holding the charge of PWD which concerns with construction of roads ,bridges etc. I had opportunity to work in lucknow development authority also which concerns with one of the basic necessities of life, that is housing. On the whole, I would say overall journey is very satisfying.
Durgesh Upadhyay- Do you remember any moment in your career when you took most difficult decisions? If yes, please tell us?
Mr. Mrityunjay K Narayan- I will say this service is not a cake walk .There are situations where you have to take decision,there are circumstances you have to take difficult decision .i can recall so many instances where I have to face difficult cirumstances, for instances conducting elections itself is a challenge .There is so many political parties involved and stakes are very high .Taking decision is very difficult sometimes .For a instance, as a returning officer you have to take decision for accepting or rejecting a nomination. While rejecting someone, you should be thorough and knowledgeable about rules. That kind of decision is not easy. This service is meant for taking difficult decision only.
Durgesh Upadhyay- What are your hobbies? What would you like to do in your free time?
Mr. Mrityunjay K Narayan- I take active part in sports and yoga, and I am fond of swimming. In summer time I am regular with swimming. Also I like reading, listening music etc. I also play little bit of harmonium .Hobbies are very essential as they recharge body and mind.
Durgesh Upadhyay- What kind of books would you like to read, Fiction or non-Fiction?
Mr. Mrityunjay K Narayan- I prefer reading non-Fiction books especially spirituality, self development etc. Reading book are very enriching experience.
Durgesh Upadhyay- Every student wants to become an IAS officers specially in Northern India, what message would you like to give to them?
Mr. Mrityunjay K Narayan- I think preparation should be very focused one. Single minded focus on getting into the exam will help them in cracking this exam. They should draw on the experiences of who have already made it reading from magazine. Overall I think one should have passion for public service if someone is wishes to join the service. If someone really empathizes for the people and want to serve in a government system civil services is an ideal service which provides a public service to the people.
