A voice against injustice: Dev Prakash IRS

Life curses everyone with some difficulties but on the other hand, it also blesses us with the strength to overcome them. Many of us waste our strength in complaining about life’s traumas and tricks while some people use their strength in overcoming the difficulties they face and earn what they want, irrespective of all the hurdles. It is fortunate that a small chunk of later type people, not only helps themselves but also choose that one way in their life by which they can serve others and help them in their difficulties. Many ways are there for serving people in the country and every way is the significant one. Civil Services is one of those best ways to serve people of the country.

Civil service gives the best opportunity to serve the citizens of the country.

Dev Prakash is contributing his services to the nation to the best. The journey of becoming Civil Servant has been a rollercoaster experience for Dev Prakash, full of highs and lows which also makes it unforgettable for him. 

Dev Prakash was brought up in Birasana Village of Mahwa Tehsil in District Dausa in Rajasthan. His father  Shri Mannu Lal Meena was a cashier SBBJ (State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur) then. As a child, DevPrakash had to face many hardships due to financial constraints. He completed his primary education in his village Birasana only, Secondary education in Mahwa. Life was still good until at the time of getting into college, Dev Prakash’s dreams shattered when his father became paralyzed and the only source of income got blocked.

The family got into financial trouble when father was paralyzed, elder brother Manoj took over the family and Dev Prakash resolved to do something for the family through studies.

Due to the treatment of the father, the debt kept increasing, due to which it was not possible to bear the cost of education.  Father had taken a tractor for farming on loan from PNB, for the outstanding amount, the bank removed the orders for attachment of the land. Dad said that I resign, you join in my place, in these circumstances, Dev Prakash decided to do something for the family by working hard day and night.

Facing these challenges was heartbreaking to Dev but these problems made Dev resilient somehow. He completed his BA Honours in history from Rajasthan college in Jaipur and decided to go to the Civil Services afterwards. Dev started preparing for UPSC despite having simple academic background. He cleared RAS exam in very first attempt, got posting in co-op department in Karauli, then started UPSC preparation.

Dev started his UPSC preparation without any clue. He did mistakes and learnt from them and eventually got through the exam. He got success in UPSC in second attempt only. Firstly, Dev was allotted IDAS in 2004 batch and then IRS in 2008. There was also one more selection in 2011 but the rank wasn’t the expected one so Dev decided to be in IRS. Since his term in services, Dev has lived in various cities. He has been in Bareilly and Lucknow from 2010 to 2012.

Presently Dev is in Gandhidham, Kutch in Gujarat. Apart from office hours, he interacts with millions of people on social media in the morning and evening and spreads positivity. There are 2 lakh, 45 thousand followers on his Twitter handle, 1 lakh and 33 thousand followers on Facebook page and 41,000 followers on Instagram who are benefitted by his positivity. Dev does his best to guide the youth of the country and to make them learn the importance of discipline and hardwork in life.

Dev has also been using social media for social entrepreneurship. He has also raised lakhs of rupees many times through crowd funding for helping poor people of society in any part of Rajasthan, especially in East Rajasthan. Along with his office hours, Dev also manages his time to do extra activities to benefit certain sections of society. He runs awareness campaigns against different types of frauds in the online world, raises voice against casteism, untouchability across the country. He also writes for the interests of the tribal community. He strives for gender equality. Through tribal philosophy, he talks about environmental protection and makes people aware about consumerism.

Apart from all this, Dev is Playing an active role in bringing social justice, equality, equity to the ground level. His grass root approach has benefitted many people till now. He is following the ideas of Jaipal Singh Munda, Babasaheb Ambedkar and Gandhiji and serving people according to his might.

Dev feels energized while accompanying youth of the country and really loves to motivate them. He is personally connected to the Youth Groups and solves their problem in one go. Recently, he voiced the students’ anger against the paper leak of competitive examinations in Rajasthan to the government and the system, due to which examinations were cancelled and justice was done at time.

Dev did not only cracked Civil Services Exam himself but also cleared a way for his youngers to get through it easily. Evidently, his younger brother Madan Mohan and his wife Chetna were also selected in the civil service in the 2011 batch. He then guided hundreds of youths and simplified their journeys.

Dev feels proud to be a part of the Bureaucracy of the country. He loves his work which is a great source of inspiration as well as satisfaction to him. He follows the quote by former president of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam- “If four things are followed – having a great aim, acquiring knowledge, hard work, and perseverance – then anything can be achieved.” In a nutshell, Dev’s journey has been based on these four principles. His journey is outstanding Inspiration to all those youths who has got great dreams but are stuck in life.