New Delhi: Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ankur Garg, who made headlines last year for scoring 171/170 in macroeconomics at Harvard University in the US, has won a fresh accolade.
The prestigious Ivy League university has now given Garg, a 2002-batch IAS officer from the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, the Raymond Vernon Award for Commitment to International Development on finishing his course.
The award is given to a graduating student for dedication to international development, good citizenship, academic excellence and strong potential to lead and contribute to the field. Another student, Homa Taheri, also received the same award.
The announcement was made towards the end of last month. The officer has now graduated and is hoping to return to India in a month.
On 27 May, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu had congratulated Garg for the award, calling his work in the state “inspiration” for young officers.
Congratulations Shri Ankur Garg IAS for the #RaymondVernonAward for best personifying dedication to international development, good citizenship, academic excellence & strong potential to lead.
Your contribution in Arunachal Pradesh is an inspiration for many young IAS officers. pic.twitter.com/SskDGrBkFF
— Pema Khandu པདྨ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་། (@PemaKhanduBJP) May 28, 2020
For Garg, the award has come after a challenging period that saw the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on lives and livelihoods across the world.
“The only thing we had on our minds was trying to adjust to and make the most out of our online classes. Besides, the constant stress of the Covid pandemic and uncertainty created anxiety. In this situation, an award was not really on my mind,” Garg told ThePrint Saturday over phone.
But the award is just the latest feather in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi alumnus’ cap. He also held a record for being India’s youngest civil service entrance exam topper in 2002.
However, the Harvard award is special to him because it goes beyond recognising his academic performances. “It is special to me since it assessed the dedication to international development and the future potential to contribute to the field. But more importantly, it adds value because I was representing India at the top international university,” he said.
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The significance of the course to him
Ankur Garg has been in the US for two years to study international development — an economics-oriented course that deals with advanced economic and financial models to solve contemporary problems in international development, including education, health and poverty alleviation, through examples of international best practices.
He had told ThePrint last year that his learning on macroeconomics and its theoretical structures and their direct link with developmental issues would be of much relevance to him as a policy-maker.
This would help in the rigorous assessment of the impact of an implemented policy and help in collaboration and knowledge sharing with other public leaders across the globe, he had said.
“The lessons from this course will help develop better solutions to several social sector issues in India,” he had said. “Learning from the best international practices and the latest technologies will be a significant value addition.”
His career so far
Ankur Garg’s last assignment before he left for Harvard in 2018 was his stint as the private secretary to former civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu.
During his career, he has also held several important positions in Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.
One of his crucial achievements is said to have been during his tenure in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tirap district where he successfully implemented a district-wide project to move farmers away from environmentally damaging ‘shifting cultivation’ to more sustainable ‘terrace cultivation’.
He is also known to have brought in several information technology interventions to improve public services under an e-district project in his stint in south-west Delhi for digitising land records. The solutions had significantly reduced the time required to generate caste and income certificates.
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Congratulations 🎉 Ankur sir, really proud of you.🙏🙏
Really we need to take the Garg,s studies and implement in Indian context.
Words I like to use are poorer compared to his extraordinary exhibition of his talent & never ever before unique achievement by an Indian bureaucrat.However, he had started excelling right from his graduation to topping IAS examination.They were tip of the ice-berg of his multidimentional expertise that had floated with the Harvard’s award.
Get this man a position in the Finance secretary and throw out those two useless nitwits.
Sir” how you get 171 out of 170 “plz justify the statement
“He is also known to have brought in several information technology interventions…”
Dear journalist, what kind of weasel worded statement is that? You are “known to be a….”
Congratulations. to Mr.Garg.
Hope he pushes himself thru for the type of assignments and opportunities that he is capable of
handling as a result of his hard won knowledge at Harvard,
He should be vigilant and alert not to get entangled in the cobweb of bureaucratic politics or cross
shoulder with a boss who may find him overqualified for the job.
I am not sounding pessimistic ,but it is only a note of caution,Gaining knowledge is good ,but it should
radiate like the rays of sun and illumine the whole world.
Simply stated .the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
May god grant him his wish and be his partner in all his endeavors.
Congratulations Ankur ji. You have got more than full marks. You are a great inspiration and a model of our nation. We are proud of you.
🎊Congratulations 🎊 sir,
For your great success… We’re really proud of you 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
मुझे अंकुर गर्ग जी का वो कहा हुवा याद है जिसमे उन्होंने बोला था कि वो पढ़ते ही है टॉप करने के लिए
Really a fiat by an IAS Officer. I hope he will now be entrusted a role inthe policy planning arm of Govt to deal with the present echonomic conditions of our country. Thanks
please replace Nirmala by Garg to pull India out of economic , covid, coRONA mess…
How is this possible?How can someone score 171 out of 170 ?
Many Many Congratulations to you.I also congratulate you to hoist the Indian flag high
Hearty Congrats
Congratulations , India is known for its extra ordinary brain power , Garg has made india proud .
Very nice! I am more happy as he is a fellow IITian. I too work for socio-economic development of farmers, entrepreneurship development,….
How can someone get 171 out of 170… plz justify
Kindly move beyond eulogizing and image building on behalf of established group interests and projecting a larger-than-life persona using props like Harvard, Oxford etc
Let actions and outcomes helping resolve India’s less than optimal performance speak for them.
Quest of learning makes a person hero like Garg Shab.
I know he is very intelligent n excellently doing well in service despite so much constraints n limitation. I wish that he should be given more challenging jobs in Govt with much freedom n I am sure manymiracles would start happening.