JAWED USMANI
D03
C h e r i s h i n g a c a r e e r i n p u b l i c s e r v i c e...
I was born in Allahabad in the year 1956 in a middle class family. My father was a mid-level officer in the UP government and the most prominent memory of childhood that I have is that of frequent transfers from one district of the state to another and the resultant exhilarating experience of building a new school life and new relationships after every two or three years.
I remember that in my young years, I was a very competitive student and had the good fortune of consistently achieving outstanding academic results. I can never forget the great excitement and joy when I secured third rank in UP at the High School examination in 1969 or when I topped the state at the Intermediate examination of 1971 or stood first in the University in BSc in 1973. I joined the PGP at IIMA in 1974 and was awarded the Industry Scholarship in both years of the programme. I appeared at the IAS examination in 1977 and was humbled to secure first rank in India at this extremely competitive test.
I have never regretted my decision to join the IAS and make a career in public service. The Service has given me great diversity of opportunities, immense responsibilities at a young age, and the tremendous satisfaction of seeing the results of your endeavours in terms of public good. I also got an opportunity to complete another Masters in Social Policy at LSE. I recall with great pleasure the four years spent as District Magistrate of two districts, or the three years as the Managing Director of a large PSU, or working as Minister (Economic Cooperation) in the Embassy of India at Kathmandu, looking after Indian aid to Nepal.
I will never forget the long tenure of more than eight years as Joint Secretary to PM, working with four Prime Ministers of India, when one had the opportunity of initiating or influencing key national policies. My stint with the World Bank gave me a seat at the Board level in a global financial institution with an opportunity to contribute to international politics in development initiatives. And as Chief Secretary of the Government of UP for over two years, I had the occasion to work closely with the political leadership and lead the bureaucracy of this large state towards greater progress and development. During this period I also got the opportunity to lead & successfully coordinate the world’s largest human gathering — Kumbh 2013 – a challenging experience.
In February 2015, I was appointed to the statutory position of the Chief Information Commissioner of UP. In this five-year tenured position I am responsible for the effective implementation of the Right to Information Act in the State. The CIC portfolio gives me an exciting and challenging opportunity to work from the perspectives and on behalf of the millions of citizens of Uttar Pradesh to help strengthen accountability and transparency in governance in my home state.
.... and Farah, Faraz and Sabah, my wonderful family.....
I met Farah, my friend, partner and love of my life when she was a young medical student at the JN Medical College in Aligarh. It was love at first sight for me while she played hard to get. Finally, I was able to overcome her resistance and we were engaged in 1980, and after two long years of engagement, we got married in June 1982.
Since then, for the past 36 years, Farah has lit up my life with her warm presence, her zest for life, and her love and devotion to her family.
Farah initially worked as an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and then decided to make a substantive career shift to health policy. After obtaining her MSc in Health Policy and Financing from London School of Economics she joined the United Nations International Civil Service in 1997 and served in India and the regional office in Nepal. Since March 2007, Farah has been posted at the UNFPA HQ in New York where she continues to serve in a senior capacity.
For the last twenty years therefore, Farah and I have worked hard to reconcile our two careers, mine with the IAS in India and hers with the United Nations International Civil Service, and simultaneously to nurture our marriage to greater love and affection, and we believe we have done a pretty good job of it.
We have two lovely amazing children. Faraz, our son was born in 1989, and Sabah, our daughter two years later in 1991.
We both worked hard to give them the best possible education and they worked hard too, beginning with schooling at the Air Force Bal Bharati School, New Delhi followed by the British School at Kathmandu and the Kodaikanal International School in Tamil Nadu. Sabah finished the last two years of her schooling at the UN International School in New York.
Faraz received his BA (Economics) degree from the New York University which was followed by an MA in International Development Economics from Yale University. After a stint of two years with the World Bank in Washington DC, Faraz joined Duke University in 2014 where he is currently pursuing PhD in Environmental Policy.
Sabah received her BSc (Civil Engineering) degree from Columbia University in New York after which she worked for two years with Mahindra Life Spaces, the real estate company in the Mahindra group in Mumbai. Having developed an interest in urban development and design, Sabah joined MIT in Boston, USA in 2015, where she is currently studying for MSc in City Planning.
. . . and the unknown future...
I hope to take formal retirement in 2020 following completion of my current tenure as CIC and will join Farah in New York or wherever else she is posted. Farah is scheduled to retire from her UN career only in 2025. I would like to read books of interest and perhaps write my memoirs, to distill the politics, policies & practices of the administrative service for possible use by future administrators. I would like to travel and see the world with Farah. And I look forward to the luxury of spending more time with my wife, children and their families, which I would hope they will have by then!