Meet Vikas Divyakirti — Founder of Drishti IAS, Now Under Radar After Deaths of 3 UPSC Aspirants

New Delhi: Two days after tragic death of three UPSC aspirants of Rau's IAS Study Circle, several or IAS coaching institutes have been sealed for flouting rules.

One of institutes sealed, is Drishti IAS, a popular coaching centre, run by Vikas Divyakirti, an equally popular name in civil services circuit.

Who is Vikas Divyakirti, know all about him…

Who is Vikas Divyakirti?

A former civil servant, Vikas Divyakirti is an educator, YouTuber and author. He founded very popular UPSC coaching institute Drishti IAS in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar in year 1999.

Currently, Vikas Divyakirti is Managing Director and Coaching He of Drishti IAS; his wife Taruna Verma, who holds a PhD, serves as Director of Drishti IAS.

Vikas Divyakirti Educational Qualifications

Born and brought up in Haryana, Vikas Divyakirti did his schooling from Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Bhiwani district and n did his BA in Hindu from Zakir Hussain Delhi College, University of Delhi.

After college, he received a postgruate degree in English and Hindi and also pursued MA, MPhil and and PhD.

Vikas Divyakirti was working as a faculty member at University of Delhi when he started preparing for civil services and in 1996, he secured AIR 384.

Vikas Divyakirti, Founder of Drishti IAS

On clearing civil services, Vikas Divyakirti began working in Ministry of Home Affairs but his passion for teaching was bigger than his profession.

A couple of years later, he quit his job and established Drishti IAS in 1999; ever since, he has been educating and guiding UPSC aspirants from across country.

Vikas Divyakirti began his YouTube channel in 2022 and currently, it has over 2.5 million subscribers.

Vikas Divyakirti in 12th Fail

Apart from his YouTube videos, Vikas Divyakirti was recently seen on screen as a part of 2023 Bollywood release ‘12th Fail’ starring Vikrant Massey, which was based on life of IPS Manoj Kumar Sharma. 

Vikas Divyakirti appeared in Vidhu Vinod Chopra-directed film as himself and his appearance on screen was widely appreciated. He h also contributed to scriptwriting of film. 

Vikas Divyakirti and Drishti IAS Under Scanner after Delhi Tragedy

Days after recent deaths of 3 UPSC aspirants in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) sealed basement of Drishti IAS coaching institute in Mukherjee Nagar for violating building regulations. 

According to MCD, basement, which should be used solely for storage, was being used for conducting coaching classes at institute (Drishti IAS) run by educator Vikas Divyakirti.