J&K UPSC Topper Shah Faesal Rejoins Govt Service, Says Life Has Given Him Another Chance

In a series of tweets, Faesal spoke about his idealism letting him down in 2019 when he resigned from the government service to join politics.

Srinagar: Ending the specualtions, Jammu & Kashmir's first UPSC topper Shah Faesal, who left his government service in 2019 citing "rising intolerance" in the country and floated his own political party, has rejoined the service. 

Despite three years of his resignation, officials close to the development told news agency PTI, Faesal's resignation was not accepted as it was kept at the disposal of the J-K's general administration department. 

According to officials, the IAS officer is now awaiting orders of his posting. 

The development comes a day after the UPSC topper dropped hints about his return to the government service. In a series of tweets, Faesal spoke about his idealism letting him down in 2019 when he resigned from the government service to join politics.

"8 months of my life (Jan 2019-Aug 2019) created so much baggage that I was almost finished. While chasing a chimera, I lost almost everything that I had built over the years. Job. Friends. Reputation. Public goodwill. But I never lost hope. My idealism had let me down," he tweeted.

"But I had faith in myself. That I would undo the mistakes I had made. That life would give me another chance. A part of me is exhausted with the memory of those 8 months and wants to erase that legacy. Much of it is already gone. Time will mop off the rest in believe," he wrote further.

Though Faesal's, in his tweets, did not clarify what he meant by "another chance", but speculations about his comeback to government services were making rounds since last one year. 

It was being speculated that he might return to service as an IAS officer or in some advisory role to the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Faesal, who had topped the UPSC examination in 2009, resigned from the service in January 2019.

Post quitting his job, Faesal floated his own political party - Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement - in March that year and had plans to contest the assembly elections which were to be held.

The IAS officer was even arrested during the critical times in the valley in the wake of Abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into union territories on August 5, 2019.

(With inputs from PTI.)