Do you know India’s new finance secretary Ashok Lavasa is also an avid photographer?

A photo exhibition by Ashok and Novel Lavasa (File photo)

DO YOU know, India’s new finance secretary and 1980 batch Haryana cadre IAS Ashok Lavasa is an avid photographer? On Tuesday, the government designated Lavasa as finance secretary, following the convention of designating the senior-most of the five secretaries in the ministry of finance as the finance secretary. Lavasa, holding the post of secretary, expenditure, is ranked higher than his batch mate of Tamil Nadu cadre…

Shaktikanta Das who is the secretary in the department of economic affairs (DEA). An MA in English literature and then an MBA, Lavasa originally belongs to Rajasthan. In IAS, he took up many a role including joint secretary in the ministry of home affairs, joint secretary, additional secretary and special secretary in the ministry of power, and then secretary in the ministry of civil aviation and then environment and forests.

But Lavasa has one more designation— photographer. It’s his private passion. Both he and his wife Novel Lavasa sometime take breaks from their busy schedule, move out to the hills and jungles and capture the nature through photography. Some of Lavasa’s memorable photographs include those of the mountains, waterfalls, the setting and rising Sun, trees, monuments etc.

Both the husband and wife in the past have exhibited their photographs in Delhi. In one such exhibition organized two years ago in India Habitat Centre, their photographs included the stripes of a zebra, the spots of a giraffe and lions on a tree.

Lavasa’s photograph of the Berlin Wall with graffiti is highly appreciated. 

His wife Novel worked with the State Bank of India (SBI) for 28 years before turning into an entrepreneur. She then began to grow exotic vegetables and organize adventure camps for women. She is also a CSR consultant.

Ashok Lavasa’s first book “An Uncivil Servant” was published in 2006.

Both the Lavasa are passionate about travel, adventure, river-rafting, music and of course, photography. 

Their daughter Avny Lavasa is a 2013 batch Jammu and Kashmir cadre IAS. Is Avny also interested in photography?