Books, Bureaucracy & Beyond

In an exclusive interview with Millennium Post, former IAS officer Sanjeev Chopra sheds light on his intermingled journey as an administrator and writer, his diverse literary works, and his continuing role in curating the famous Valley of Words literature festival

You have made a very smooth transition from the IAS to your second avatar as a writer and scholar. Please share your journey from an administrator to a writer.

Thank you for this question, but let me say: I have always been a writer, and as the old-time readers of this paper may recall, I have been sending my book reviews and columns on governance and agriculture reforms for Millennium Post ever since its inception. In fact, I do not recall any time in my life from my teens when I was not writing regularly. I was a Trainee Journalist with the Times of India, three days before I turned 21, which gave me a good institutional platform to write. Three years later, I joined the IAS, and while in service, I wrote reports, delivered judgments, edited and updated gazetteers, prepared background notes for speeches for Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, governors, and cabinet notes. I kept my journal and wrote my books and academic articles. And I have not completely abandoned administrative tasks—for running a literature festival with eight book awards and five verticals across the country, together with Iti Natya and Iti Nritya, involves very much the same issues—raising resources, preparing budgets, ensuring compliance, and engaging with stakeholders. Yes, the scale has tilted towards research and writing, but I still have many administrative tasks at hand.

As a writer, your books have been very diverse in their range. When you were Secretary of Industries in Uttarakhand, you authored the book ‘Towards Thirty Thousand Crores’ about the growing investment in the new state of Uttarakhand. This was followed by ‘Food for Thought’ and an edited volume on agribusiness. Then you wrote ‘We the People of the States of Bharat: The Making and Remaking of India’s Internal Boundaries’, which is now going into paperback editions and translations.

Which new book are you writing now, and why?