Dnyaneshwar Mulay


Dnyaneshwar Mulay – ज्ञानेश्वर मुळे, an Indian Career Diplomat who superannuated after 35 years of service,was appointed by the President of India as the Member, National Human Rights Commission in April 2019. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1983 and has since served in several capacities, including the Consul General of India, New York, and the High Commissioner of India, Male, Maldives.
He is a successful writer and has written over 15 books, which have been translated in Arabic, Dhivehi, Urdu, Kannada and Hindi. His magnum-opus – Maati, Pankh ani Akash, written in Marathi, has received immense popularity and has also been prescribed in the Arts curriculum at the North Maharasthra University, Jalgaon.
He has inspired a number of socio-educational projects including Balodyan, an orphanage in his native village, and the Dnyaneshwar Mulay Education Society in Pune which seeks to introduce innovative concepts like Global Education.

Early life, education and struggles

Mulay was born in 1958, in the village of Lat, in the Kolhapur district of Maharashtra. His father Manohar Krishna Mulay was a farmer and tailor while his mother Akkatai Mulay has been a homemaker. He completed his primary education in the village of Lat, at the age of 10, he left the village to join Rajarshi Shahu Chatrapati Vidyaniketan, Kolhapur, a school that was founded by the Zilla Parishad, to nurture talent from rural areas. He became the first student from rural area, to win the Jagannath Shankarsheth Award, by securing highest marks in Sanskrit at SSC exam in 1975.
He received his BA degree from the Shahaji Chattrapati College Kolhapur and stood first in the University for which he also won the prestigious Dhananjay Keer Award.
Seeking to join the civil services, and realizing that there was a dearth of study resources and guidance in Kolhapur, he relocated to Mumbai. In Mumbai he joined the State Institute for Administrative Career, which provided him the basic facilities for his studies. He also studied Master's in Labour Studies from LNML MILS in Mumbai.
In the meantime, he studied Personnel Management at the Mumbai University, and won the Peter Alvarez medal for standing first in the University
He stood first in the Maharashtra Public Service Commission examination in the year 1982, and succeeded in the Union Public Service Commission examination before being selected in the Indian foreign service.
In January 2017, the D.Y Patil University of Mumbai honoured him with Doctor of Literature for his ‘exemplary contribution to society’.

Early career

He joined office as the Deputy Collector of Pune and later joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1983. He first served in Tokyo as the Third secretary and later as the Second Secretary of the Indian Embassy to Japan. During his tenure in Japan, Mulay very successfully managed the ambitious Cultural extravaganza, Festival of India, which was organised in over 20 cities of Japan over a period of one year in 1988. He also founded the Indian Business Association in Moscow, Russia and was its Founder president for two years. During his stint as Second Secretary in Japan, he looked after economic relations and paved the way for many Japanese investments in India including from Toyota Motors, NTT-Itochu, Honda Motors and YKK.
He has served in various capacities in Russia, Mauritius, and then in Syria as the minister in the Indian embassy. He has been instrumental in handling the business relations between India and Russia particularly the transition from the state controlled trade to direct trade. In Syria, he facilitated the Sahitya Akademy's first M.O.U. outside India with the Arab Writers Association. In Mauritius he streamlined and expedited the Cyber Tower project and Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre, with Indian assistance.

High Commissioner of India to Male (Maldives)

He assumed office as the high commissioner of India to Male on April 2009 and served in this capacity until March 2013. He is credited with steering the Indo-Maldivian relations to a new level and has successfully led the embassy through the difficult transfer of power, in February 2012.
He was also instrumental in strengthening the military relationship between India and the Maldives, notably achieving the India -Maldives- Sri Lanka cooperation in the maritime arena. He handled the difficult situation during the two-week-long refuge of President Mohamed Nasheed in the Indian High Commission in Male. The Indian Cultural Centre in Maldives was established with his initiative.

Consul General of India, New York, USA

He began service as the Consul General of India on 23 April 2013. His notable achievements at the Consulate include the varied initiatives of outreach to the Indian diaspora as well as the mainstream American society. He introduced a monthly lecture series called ‘Media India 2014’, which gained immense popularity, while also helping create new conversations on India. Another similar lecture series focussing on the Indian states and named 'India-State by State' was also received well. He also helped establish a film and Literature Club in order to introduce Indian movies and literature to the American population. During his tenure as the Consul General, he has also appeared on Comedy Central's ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in a hilarious episode based on India’s elections.
In response to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, announced by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Mulay initiated a Swachh Consulate campaign in New York. This holistic cleansing campaign has set a model of Swachh Consulate campaign for other Indian missions abroad. Mulay also launched the Consulate At Your Doorstep outreach program with the aim of deepening understanding of US decision-makers on India-US relations and addressing the concerns of the community on passports, visas and other matters. Monthly lecture series ‘Media India’ was another innovative initiative he has started as a Consul General of India in New York.

Academic, media and literary work

In Nov 2012, at rally in Maldives to protest against leasing of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport to Indian infrastructure major GMR Group, Mr.Riza, a political appointee called Mr. Mulay a traitor and enemy of Maldives and Maldivian people. He also added that a diplomat's job is to work for his country and people and not to protect the interests of one private company. Later Mr.Riza denied that he made any such comments. President Mr. Waheed said that remarks made by Riza and some other government officials, did not reflect the views of the government. Later, Mr. Riza resigned from his political party since the party had distanced formally from his utterances. Major political parties, both from ruling coalition and opposition have either condemned the remarks or disowned them in respective press statements.

Personal life

Dr Dnyaneshwar Mulay lives in Delhi, with his wife Sadhna Shanker who is an Indian Revenue Service officer. He has three children Utsav, Agney and Pujya.