5 IAS officers turned entrepreneurs to know about
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) has always been one of the most highly coveted civil services in the country. IAS officers are highly respected, and many youngsters in India aspire to become one. However, there are many IAS officers who gave up this esteemed position to do something unique and turned entrepreneurs by launching their own businesses. Here are five such IAS officers-turned-entrepreneurs.
Pravesh Sharma, the IAS officer who turned 'Sabziwala'
Pravesh Sharma, a 1982-batch IAS officer, resigned from the service to set up a start-up named Sabziwala. He quit the IAS after working as the managing director of the Small Farmers' Agri-business Consortium (SFAC) for five years. Sabziwala is a retail fruits and vegetables (F&V) chain that sources and delivers quality fresh produce directly from farmers to consumers, ensuring everyone gets a fair price.
Sabahat Azim launched Glocal Healthcare Systems
Syed Sabahat Azim, a doctor and a 2000-batch IAS officer, left the bureaucracy to establish Glocal Healthcare Systems in 2010. It is a start-up that aims to make quality healthcare services accessible to the rural population by setting up low-cost yet efficient hospitals across villages.
1979-batch IAS officer Vivek Kulkarni founded Brickwork India in 2005
Next on the list is Vivek Kulkarni, a 1979-batch IAS officer who quit the service in 2004 to kickstart his entrepreneurial journey after working in the government for 25 years. At the time, he was the Information Technology (IT) and Biotechnology secretary of Karnataka. In 2005, he co-founded Brickwork India with his wife Sangeeta Kulkarni. Brickwork provides remote executive assistance services to global companies.
Sanjay Gupta quit IAS after 17 years of service
Sanjay Gupta, a 1985-batch IAS officer, left the service to start Neesa Group in 2002. He is also a civil engineer from IIT Roorkee. Neesa Group is a multi-crore business conglomerate that engages in hospitality among other areas.
Roman Saini, co-founder of online education platform Unacademy
Roman Saini cracked the UPSC Civil Services Examination at 22 in 2013 to become an IAS officer. However, he resigned mid-training from the IAS in 2016 in order to provide high-quality online education services and co-founded Unacademy. Today, Unacademy is one of the country's fastest-growing education start-ups and one of the largest online learning platforms, well known for its free UPSC exam coaching.
