Awanish Awasthi: News

Born on August 19, 1962, Awanish Kumar Awasthi, is a 1987 batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, who represents the Uttar Pradesh government in the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust (Ram Temple Trust), and is serving as the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) in the Uttar Pradesh government as of 2021. He has served in various positions in the UP government including as the District Magistrate of Lalitpur, Badaun, Azamgarh, Varanasi. Faizabad, Meerut, and Gorakhpur. Awasthi completed his engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) in 1985. Considered to be the ‘right-hand man' of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Awasthi was instrumental in cracking down on anti-CAA protests in 2019 in UP. In 2019, it was Awasthi who gave the orders to suspend all telecom and internet services in UP during the height of anti-CAA protests, citing that such services would instigate violence. He was also instrumental in the arrest of Popular Front India’s (PFI) Uttar Pradesh head and its members. PFI is a radical Kerala-based Islamist Organization. In 2018, he announced that after the National Anthem will be played in the movie theaters, Kumbh Mela’s logo containing temples, seers, ‘Kalash,’ and swastika will be displayed on the cinema halls, so that people can understand the importance of religious festivals. His announcement had sparked controversy. He is married to popular folk singer, and Padma Shri Awardee Malini Awasthi.