Mr. Avanish Kumar Awasthi is a dynamic UP cadre IAS officer of batch 1987. Throughout his service, he has served the country with utmost honesty, courage and dedication. He is prominently known for his pioneering work done for the upliftment of disabled persons during his stint as Joint Secretary in the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. Owing to his commendable track record and clean image, he was the first choice of the UP Chief Minister as his Principal Secretary.
On 9 April 2017, he took charge as the Principal Secretary of the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
"All persons with disability should have opportunities to come forth and give their best.
Mr. Awasthi received his B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1985 from IIT Kanpur. Despite choosing a technical stream, he decided to step into the preparation of civil services and eventually joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1987. He has served Uttar Pradesh government in multiple capacities including being the District Magistrate of Lalitpur, Badaun, Azamgarh, Varanasi, Faizabad, Meerut and Gorakhpur. From September 2005 to January 2009, he held the position of the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL). He was also the Secretary of Tourism, Uttar Pradesh government; Special Secretary, Information and Technology; and Special Secretary, Industries.
In April 2013, he took over the charge of a Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in the Department of Disability Affairs under the headship of Secretary, Ms. Stuti Kakkar. It was a newly initiated department established in May 2012. During his stint with the department, he relentlessly worked for the implementation and executions of various schemes essential for the upliftment and growth of disabled persons. He played a pivotal role in the evolution of new schemes and programmes including the scholarship programme, training programme for sensitization of several government offices. He upgraded and modernized the already existing Assistance to Disabled person for purchase/filling of Aids and Appliances (ADIP) scheme under which modern aids and assistive devices are distributed to the disabled persons. Within three years, he has been able to reach close to five lakh plus beneficiaries in UP through ADIP scheme. He also launched another significant programme known as the Accessible India Campaign during his stint as the Joint Secretary. On 9 April 2017, he joined as the Principal Secretary to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
