Lokesh Kumar Jangid: Early Life & Family Details 

Lokesh's grandparents and parents originally lived in a village in Nagaur district of Rajasthan. For livelihood, grandfather Madanlal ji Jangid migrated to Maharashtra in 1952 and his family migrated to Maharashtra in 1986 when Lokesh was just four months old. His grandfather was a carpenter by profession and used to go to hamlets in Jintur taluka in Parbhani district in Maharashtra to make wooden doors, wooden ceilings, other furniture.   

Lokesh's father Late Ramchandra was contributing to the family work but he unfortunately died in an accident in 1993 and the Jangid family faced a great crisis. Lokesh was seven years old at that time. After that, Lokesh and his siblings were brought up by their grandfather and paternal uncle, his mother being a homemaker.  

By dint of his hard work, his grandfather then settled in the district headquarters Parbhani and started his own saw mill there. Lokesh's uncle Ashok Kumar and his younger brother run a plywood business today at the same place. 

Lokesh Kumar Jangid: Educational Journey 

Lokesh studied till 10th at Model English School, Parbhani and did his 11th and 12th at Bal Vidya Mandir Junior College in Parbhani. Lokesh imbibed the habit of reading newspapers from his grandfather in his childhood.  As an English medium student, when he was learning Barahkhadi at school, Lokesh used to read Hindi newspaper fluently because his grandfather had already taught him ‘Devanagari’ at home before Hindi and Marathi were introduced in the school.  

Lokesh used to be good at academics and extra-curricular activities right from his school life.  He stood third in Maharashtra in the state level science fair in class 9 and represented the state at the national level twice in science fairs. Also, he used to actively participate in essay competitions and oratory competitions. On the birthday and death anniversaries of national heroes and great leaders, he used to deliver speeches in every programme in the school. Overall, the foundation was laid in the school life itself. While studying engineering, too, he used to actively participate in extra-curricular events.  He was President of college’s National Service Scheme (NSS) Chapter. Many programs such as digital literacy campaign, rural technology transfer etc were carried out in the village adjacent to the college.  

Fascinated with Sociology during civils preparation, he joined full-time Masters programme in Sociology at JNU Delhi. He says he enjoyed Sociology much more than his engineering subjects, and he had not got selected for UPSC, would have possibly continued with a career in academics with Sociology discipline.  

Lokesh Kumar Jangid: Inspiration to Become IAS Officer 

Lokesh gives all the credit to his grandfather who is his inspiration. Lokesh's grandfather used to read newspapers from his youth despite being a carpenter.  From the first election to the Parliament since 1952 till his last, he keenly followed the political affairs of all the states. He used to give money to Lokesh to buy magazines from Rly station outlet since the time Lokesh was in 7th class.    

Lokesh used to watch Doordarshan news, debates of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on television along with his grandfather. This is how he started following current affairs and politics, and the interest in civil service general studies was kindled.  

Based on this, he felt he could make a difference in the system by joining IAS. Though he was fascinated by politics, he knew he couldn’t make it there because of various constraints. So he thought of civil services as the next best option to impact things on a larger scale. 

Lokesh Kumar Jangid: Preparing for UPSC Exam  

Having started reading newspaper keenly from his early school years, and then magazines like CSR, India Today, Outlook, preparation had already taken off unknowingly. Thereafter, in the library of his engineering college, he regularly read more magazines, including ones like ‘Yojana’ and ‘Kurukshetra’. He got selected for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) during campus placement when he was in his third year of engineering. But he chose not to join TCS as he felt his calling was something different than a corporate job. So, after completing engineering in 2008, he headed straight to Delhi to prepare for UPSC full-time.  

Lokesh's uncle Ashok Jangid fully funded Lokesh's education including the hefty fee for the UPSC coaching in Delhi. “Don't you worry about financials or the TCS job, I am with you, just focus on UPSC if you feel that is your dream”, supported him and never let him feel the absence of his father , moral support wise or financially. 

Lokesh Kumar Jangid: Succeeding in UPSC at the First Attempt 

Lokesh got All India Rank 910 in UPSC first attempt in 2009 exam based on reserve list. He got his first posting in Lakshadweep islands under DANICS (Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands Civil Service).  

Lokesh Kumar Jangid: Continuing His Dream of Achieving IAS Officer Rank 

He continued his UPSC preparation by working in the remote islands of Lakshadweep. In his second and third attempts, he couldn’t make it. By the time the fourth attempt was underway, the pattern of the civil services exam had changed completely, with introduction of more subjects and papers in general studies in the Mains exam. In Lakshadweep, newspapers came only once in a fortnight by ship from Kochi but basic internet facility was available. So without any coaching, test series or new material, he continued the preparation by using the material available online and went to Delhi only to write the UPSC main exam. Prepared for interview at Lakshadweep and secured 68th rank in country in CSE 2014. 

Lokesh Kumar Jangid: Journey as an IAS Officer 

Got MP cadre in the IAS and after one-year training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, joined as Assistant Collector at Sehore in Madhya Pradesh. 

After completion of training at LBSNAA, he was then posted as Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Panchayat Raj, Govt of India, for three months to familiarise himself with the policy processes of the Government of India. In 2016, he was appointed as SDM in Vijaypur tehsil of Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh and started working directly in the field.  After that he was posted as CEO Zila Parishad in Harda district.  And post that, he joined as Additional Mission Director at Rajya Shiksha Kendra in Bhopal. He focused on improving the learning outcomes of children, especially in foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) grades, and launched a dedicated fellowship programme for NIPUN Bharat. He also had a stint as Additional Collector Guna in Covid first wave, and as Additional Collector in Badwani district during Covid second wave and there too he took charge of everything from monitoring continuous oxygen supplies 24*7 to making new covid care centres to collaborating with pvt hospitals for Ayushman and the successful vaccination campaign by removing the misgivings that the tribal population had about ill effects of vaccination. 

Lokesh Kumar Jangid: Serving People Remarkably, Earning Praises & Awards for His Work 

When Lokesh SDM in Sheopur district in Madhya Pradesh, primitive tribal group Saharia tribe was predominant in the region. Lokesh noticed that the education and the status of healthcare facilities was very poor in the sub-division. In order to improve the learning outcomes of primary school students, a very extensive initiative 'Padho Vijaypur' was implemented in collaboration with the Pratham organization, which directly benefited thousands of students who started reading the texts and teachers also became more involved in teaching. After the success of Lokesh's project, the Madhya Pradesh government named this experiment 'Dakshata Unnayan' and implemented this initiative in all the districts of the state. To improve the basic infra in the healthcare facility CHC, funding was raised through the Rogi Kalyan Samiti and health infra was enhanced along with providing better services.   

When he was the CEO Zila Parishad in Harda , he carried out remarkable work in water conservation using MNREGA, building and repairing ponds all across the district. Furthermore, Roof water harvesting was done on a large scale in all govt buildings in the district due to which the groundwater level increased. Lokesh received an award from the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India for his performance in Harda's Swachh Bharat Mission. 

As Additional Collector in Badwani district, he tackled the Corona crisis at the earliest by working for availability of oxygen, setting up oxygen plant, conversion of private hospitals into covid centers, free treatment of patients under Ayushman Bharat Yojana. Barwani was the first district in the state where the positivity rate came down from 40% to 0.5% and the number of patients came down to single digit.