10/10/2026
🇮🇳 Bridging Grassroots & Digital India | IIT (ISM) Dhanbad
“A career gives you opportunities. Purpose determines the impact you create.” 👏🏻
An enriching interaction with the bright young minds at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad during its Centenary Year on the evolving role of an IAS officer in connecting grassroots realities with technology-enabled governance. 🇮🇳
Drawing from my administrative experiences in rural Tripura, social-sector initiatives, and urban governance across Agartala, Faridabad and Gurugram, we discussed rural development, women’s empowerment, social welfare programmes, Smart City initiatives and crisis management during COVID-19.
We explored how technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help address real-world challenges, improve public service delivery and develop practical, citizen-centric solutions.
Equally important is ensuring that AI is used ethically, responsibly and inclusively—with transparency, accountability and human judgement at its core. Technology must empower people, not replace the human understanding essential to good governance. 🇮🇳
One thought I shared with the students was to look beyond “Which career should I choose?” and ask, “What problem do I want to solve?”
As India moves towards Viksit Bharat 2047, the opportunity lies in combining knowledge, innovation and compassion to create meaningful impact for society. 👏🏻
Grateful to IIT (ISM) Dhanbad for the warm hospitality and an engaging interaction. 🌸
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