Avinash Dharmadhikari is a former

Indian Administrative Services The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian Forest Service (IFS). ...

officer. He was a well known social activist and free-lance journalist before joining IAS. After serving on various posts during his administrative career of ten years he resigned from IAS in 1996 for the reason that can be best described in

Arun Shourie Arun Shourie (; born 2 November 1941) is an Indian economist, journalist, author and politician. He has worked as an economist with the World Bank, a consultant to the Planning Commission of India, editor of the ''Indian Express'' and ''The Time ...

's words "to be able to serve Indian society better". He was Deputy Secretary to the Chief Minister of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

at the time of his resignation. He is founder and director of Chanakya Mandal Pariwar, working in the field of Career Guidance and Personality Development. He unsuccessfully contested for

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

as an independent candidate against Suresh Kalmadi. He was

Director General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan in 2001 under Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. As a social activist he has been part of many movements such as farmers' movements and movements against corruption. He was also a part of Team Anna during India against corruption movement. He has authored many books which includes ''75 Soneri Pane, Aswastha Dashakachi Diary, Nava Vijaypath, Ek Vijaypath, Swatantra Nagarik, Jinkanara Samaj Ghadawanari Shikshanpadhhati, Aani Aapan Saglech, Ratra Gahirichya Tisarya Prahari(a collection of poems) ''. Aswastha Dashakachi Diary has been translated into English by Gauri Deshpande titled: Diary of a Decade of Agony.

Early life

Avinash Dharmadhikari did his schooling from Jnana Prabodhini, Pune.

Administrative career

He joined the IAS in 1986. In his administrative career he had been known for his efficient, transparent and creative work in

. During these ten years he had served on many posts such as – Sub-Divisional officer, Phaltan; Officer on Special Duty for state's Chief Secretary; Director, State Archives,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

; CEO at

Ratnagiri Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in southwestern Maharashtra, India. The district is part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for the Hapus or ...

and

Amaravati Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...

zilla parishads; Additional Collector,

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

;

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, Women and Child Welfare Dept,

; District Collector, Raigad (Alibag); Deputy Secretary to

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

, Maharashtra.

Current occupation

After resigning from IAS in 1996, he founded Chanakya Mandal Pariwar, a network organization working in the field of Career Guidance, Competitive Exam (

Civil Services Examination The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a standardized test in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to higher Civil Services of India, civil services in the Government of India, such as the All India Service ...

) Training, Entrepreneurship Building and Personality Development. On 31 December 2014, the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

inaugurated a new building of Chanakya Mandal Pariwar and lauded Avinash Dharmadhikari's commitment to serve the nation through youth education.

Politics

Dharmadhikari contested the Pune Lok Sabha seat in 1998 as an independent candidate and lost. In March 2009, Dharmadhikari joined the Shiv Sena and remained a member until April 2011. After

Arvind Kejriwal Arvind Kejriwal (; born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician, activist and former bureaucrat, who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Delhi. He was the chief minister from 2013 to 2014 and from 2015 to 2024. He is also the national conve ...

Yogendra Yadav Yogendra Yadav (born 5 September 1963) is an Indian activist, Psephology, psephologist and politician whose primary interests are in the political and social sciences. He was a Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies ...

and some other members separated from

Anna Hazare Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. He was awarded the Padma Bhu ...

to form the Aam Aadmi political party.In November 2012, Dharmadhikari joined the Team Anna movement against the then UPA-II government and proposed Jan Lokpal Bill

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dharmadhikari, Avinash Indian Administrative Service officers 1959 births Living people