Sanjay Dixit

Sanjay Dixit
Born (1960-07-15) July 15, 1960
Varanasi
Education DMET Calcutta/Bombay (Grad in Marine Engineering), BITS, Pilani(M.S. in software Systems), Rajasthan University (M.A. In Economics, Ll.B.), Prachin Kala Kendra, Chandigarh (Masters in Indian Classical Music).
Occupation
  • Officer of the Indian Administrative Service in the rank of Secretary, GOI. Additional Chief Secretary to Govt. of Rajasthan.
  • Columnist and Author
  • Chairman, The Jaipur Dialogues
  • Ex-Secretary General and Ex-President, Rajasthan Cricket Association
  • Ex-Member, Finance Committee, BCCI
Spouse(s) Shruti Dixit, Advocate at Rajasthan High Court
Website

Sanjay Dixit is a columnist, author, writer, speaker, sports administrator and a serving IAS civil servant. He has written dozens of articles in newspapers and periodicals on a range of subjects, and is frequently invited to talk events. His first book, Krishna Gopeshvara has been released on 29 May 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The e-book version has been released on 30 June 2018.

He was earlier the Secretary General of Rajasthan Cricket Association[1] and ran the Rajasthan cricket team. He is also a senior serving officer of the Indian Administrative Service in the highest scale of the service and is posted as Additional Chief Secreatry. He has also created a major International think tank, The Jaipur Dialogues Forum, that hosts major events on current scholarly topics.

Early life

Born on 15 July 1960 in Varanasi, he graduated as a Marine Engineer from DMET, Calcutta. He sailed with the Shipping Corporation of India till 1985 before joining the Indian Civil Services in 1986. He was allotted the Rajasthan cadre of the Indian Administrative Service in the 1986 batch.

Cricket administration

He has played cricket since his school days, but came into prominence when he captained the Barmer district team to successive State championships in 1994 and 1995 when he was working there as the District Magistrate. Before that, he had led the Rajasthan Civil Services' State team with distinction. It was then that the district appointed him as the President of the District Cricket Association, Barmer. He fought the then reigning cricket family of the Rungtas, protesting their selection policies and the voting collegium. He teamed up with Lalit Modi and is credited with drafting the first ever Sports Law in the country, the Rajasthan Sports Act.

Dispute with Lalit Modi

Soon after the Act was promulgated, he fell out with Lalit Modi, ostensibly over his dictatorial ways. In 2009, he contested against Lalit Modi and defeated him in a famous election. Dissensions within the Rajasthan Cricket Association led to a fresh election in which Lalit Modi was defeated again and Sanjay Dixit was back as the Secretary General.

Achievements

Under Dixit's leadership Rajasthan cricket team won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 77 years in 2011, and its U-19 and U-16 teams recorded their best ever performances. His methods in bringing Ranji Trophy to Rajasthan are subject of many case studies in cricket.

In 2012, Rajasthan Cricket team became only the 6th team in the history of Ranji Trophy to win back to back Ranji championships.

As head of education projects during 2000-02, he brought in reforms.

Introduction of Date Palm in Rajsthan was his brainchild. He also set up an International Horticulture Training Centre in PPP mode and successfully negotiated bringing in of date palm tissue culture technology from UAE to Rajasthan. He set up a state-of-the-art tissue culture laboratory in Jodhpur for producing date palms in India. His expertise in Agriculture and Horticulture is well acknowledged. He has also penned a series on agricultural reforms in Swarajya (magazine)[2]

Dixit headed the Command Area Development department as its Principal Secretary when an ambitious project to revamp the Chambal canal system was prepared and launched.

Dixit writes regular columns for newspapers, online media, and periodicals. He has written for Yahoo India, DNA, and Mumbai Mirror in the past. He regularly writes on current topics in The Print India of Shekhar Gupta, Swarajya (magazine), and Medium (website).

Dixit is now writing a trilogy on Krishna. The first book of the trilogy, Krishna Gopeshvara was soft launched in collaboration with Bloomsbury Publishing in the main event of The Jaipur Dialogues on 18 November 2017. The final launch is expected to be sometime in early 2018.

Authorship

On the page of his successful maiden book Krishna Gopeshvara, Amazon describes Sanjay Dixit in the following words:[3]

'Sanjay Dixit is an IAS officer of the 1986 batch in Rajasthan Cadre. Prior to joining IAS, he was in the Merchant Navy as an engineer. He sailed the High Seas for four years before jumping ashore, landing in the sea of desert.

'He has done his graduation in Marine Engineering from DMET, Calcutta (as it then was). After joining the IAS, he added three Masters qualifications to his repertoire - in Indian classical music, Economics, and software Systems; the last one from BITS, Pilani. He also took a professional degree in Law. 'He has travelled India and the world extensively, first as a merchant mariner, and then as an administrator. He was also an active sportsman. He went on to don many hats in sports administration, including that of being Secretary and President of Rajasthan Cricket Association, Secretary of Rajasthan Tennis Association, and member of BCCI Finance Committee.

'As a person of varied interests, he has authored dozens of articles, covering such diverse fields as cricket, general sports, agriculture, Islamism, Spirituality, Strategic Affairs, and current issues. His articles have appeared in DNA, Yahoo India, Mumbai Mirror, Swarajya Magazine, Print India, India Facts and Medium.com.'

His major contributions as columnist include his writings on cricket in Yahoo, DNA, Print India and Mumbai Mirror; series on Agriculture and Islam in Swarajya (magazine) along with sundry contributions on strategic affairs and Kashmir. He has also written in India Facts and Medium.com. His fictional pieces in Medium.com have received critical acclaim.

References

  1. ↑ "Dixit takes another dig at Warne". The Times of India. 19 May 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  2. ↑ https://swarajyamag.com/topic/Transforming%20Agriculture
  3. ↑ https://www.amazon.in/Krishna-Gopeshvara-Rationalists-Sanjay-Dixit/dp/9387457710/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522218385&sr=8-1&keywords=sanjay+dixit
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