Armstrong Pame

In March 1994, Colonel (Retd.) DPK Pillay, a Shaurya Chakra Awardee, saved the lives of two young kids during a gunfight with militants in Manipur’s Longdi Pabram village. But he didn’t stop at that, going on to uplift the village in several ways.

"How different would our rural areas be if so many more take up such incredible challenges, instead of their expertise being laid to rest after retirement?," writes a deeply impressed IAS officer Armstrong Pame.

Pame was appointed as an Election Observer in the Lunglei district of Mizoram. Here, he met Lalrindika, a young boy born with a cleft palate. Lalrindika hails from the remote village of Zehtat, and his family is not very well off.

A Naga IAS officer’s efforts led to the construction of a 100km road effectively linking Manipur, Nagaland and Assam, without any financial aid from the government.

Here are 10 amazing, brave, dedicated civil servants of India who have made us all extremely proud and done extra ordinary work for the country, some even losing their lives while performing their duty, but never taking the easy way out. We salute these true heroes.