Anil Swarup is a retired IAS Officer from the 1981 batch and from cadre of Uttar Pradesh (UP) . He was born and educated in UttarPradesh in 1958. He got AIR 14. After serving for nearly 37 years, he retired in 2018.

Family, Education and Career

He was born in Allahabad and his father was also in government service. His father was very disciplined and the trait also passed onto Anil.Ref.

Remembering his childhood of carefree days, he revealed that he was an average student who loved playing sports after his school time. He was very fond of badminton and cricket.Ref.

He has two children, a son and a daughter by the name of Aditi and Apurv.

In many interviews, he has stated that his dad wanted him to become an IAS Officer. Anil states in an interview that at the age of 11 – 12 years, it was by chance that he came to know about his father’s wish for him to become an IAS officer, when he came across a detailed roadmap his father had drafted outlining the steps to achieve that goal. While he became an IAS Officer due to his father’s wish, he opines that he would want to become an IAS officer again in his next birth.

Education: – He studied his final years in boarding school which was Colvin Taluqdars’ College. For his BA and MA in Political Science, he chose University of Allahabad.

Career: – He got selected in Indian Police Services. Although he opines that the opportunities in IPS were limited, neither he was happy about missing the IAS rank nor his father who dreamt of him becoming an IAS Officer.Ref. He attempted again and got the IAS rank in the next year.

Interesting Facts about Anil Swarup

Believes in Hindu Philosophy: – He often jokes that civil servants should not be afraid of transfer as they are inevitable like death, and there is no point in fearing from death (referring to transfers) as he believes in Hindu Philosophy of reincarnation (referring to resuming work after the transfer).

Fight with Cancer: – He was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma — a cancer of lymph glands but fortunately made extremely fast recovery in just six months with six months of Chemotherapy.

Cricket Fan: – He is an ardent fan of cricket. In fact, he believes that it was because of his liking of cricket, that he inculcated the habit of waking up early in order to listen commentary of India tour of Australia matches as those games usually start at 5.30 a.m. IST

He plays guitar and also composes music in his free time, and opines that such activities are meditation for him.