Vikas Divyakirti

Dr. Vikas Divyakirti (born 26 December 1973) is a former civil servant, educator, author, lecturer, YouTuber. He was a member of Central Secretariat Service and is currently the founder and director of the Drishti IAS Coaching Institute, a UPSC coaching institute based in Delhi.

Early life and education
Vikas Divyakirti was born on 26 December 1973 in Bhiwani, Haryana. He completed his early schooling in Hindi medium at Saraswati Shishu Mandir. After completing his schooling, he studied at Zakir Husain Delhi College, pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce (honors) degree. However, he later changed his stream and pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in History at University of Delhi. Later, he studied for postgraduate degree in Hindi Literature, scoring second rank in first year at Zakir Husain Delhi College and then migrated to Hindu College, Delhi in his final year, where he finally earned Master of Arts in 1995.

He later earned Bachelor of Laws from Faculty of Law, University of Delhi and then Master of Philosophy, and also Doctor of Philosophy in Hindi literature from University of Delhi.

Career
After completing his master's degree, Divyakirti started teaching at University of Delhi as an assistant professor. Later, in 1996, he cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination on his first attempt and got All India Rank (AIR) of 384 in 1996. After getting trained at Institute of Secretariat Training and Management, he was inducted into Central Secretariat Service by Government of India. He served as section officer at Department of Official Language in Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi.

He later resigned from service after a year and continued teaching. In 1999, he founded Drishti IAS Coaching Institute in Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi.

In November 2022, Divyakirti started his YouTube channel, which currently has over 2.5M subscribers. In addition to his main channel, Vikas Divyakirti manages multiple other YouTube channels, including Drishti IAS, Drishti IAS English, Drishti Judiciary, Drishti PCS, Drishti Teaching Exams, Drishti IAS Shorts, Drishti CUET Hindi, Drishti CUET English, and Drishti Welfare Foundation. In 2023, Divyakirti made an appearance in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's biographical drama film 12th Fail, playing himself. He also contributed to the scriptwriting for this film.

"This is a historic occasion. Perhaps for the first time, Hindi cinema has tried to touch the pulse of Hindi society at such a deep level. The story of Manoj Sharma, who became IPS despite once failing in 12th class, actually shakes every person who has accepted failure as his destiny in life. The film forces him to give himself another chance, to ‘restart’ his journey!"

Personal life
Vikas is married to Taruna Verma and they have a son. He was nominated for Padma Awards in 2023.

Views
In 2022, Divyakirti faced major criticism over his comments about the Ramayana, quoting a Sanskrit author that after the war, Rama said to Sita, "I (Ram) did not fight this war for you (Sita) but for the respect of my lineage. Just as ghee licked by a dog is not fit for eating, you, Sita, are not fit for me." Sadhvi Prachi shared a clip of his statement on X, demanding a ban on his coaching institute. Later, Divyakirti clarified his views in an interview with The Lallantop, stating that whatever he claimed in the video is supported by documents.

Divyakirti does not believe in caste system, his surname is the result of his parents' literary interests.