Deepankar Aron, a Presidential Awardee for his contributions as an Indian Revenue Service officer, is also a passionate traveller, a consummate photographer and a writer. In his latest picorial book – “On the Trail of Buddha – A Journey to the East”, he explores the spiritual, cultural and philosophical linkages that bind India and East Asia.
‘A book wrapped in the gold of centuries from a thousand flowers of the mind. It is a journey of culture on a bullet train’
(Padma Bhushan, Shri Lokesh Chandra in his foreword to the book)
World Heritage Sites of Uttarakhand, his first pictorial book was published in 2010. The book travels from the world famous Valley of Flowers to Nanda Devi National Park. His articles on travel, nature and heritage have, over the years, appeared in various international magazines and newspapers.
An alumnus of IIT Delhi (B.Tech – Electrical Engg and M. Tech – Energy Studies), over the last twenty-seven years in the civil service, he has held assignments ranging from Customs at Indo-Nepal border to implementing New Industrial Policy in Uttarakhand to policy making in the Ministry of Finance to a diplomatic stint as Consul in Hong Kong. In 2009, he did the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, as the Liaison Officer for the Govt. of India. He has served for ten years in the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), India’s lead Intelligence and Investigation agency for combating cross border crime, including a stint as ADG, heading the formation covering East and North East India.
He has represented the country at various fora such as World Customs Organization, Brussels, BRICS, several international conferences and bilateral meetings with administrations such as China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Russia, Finland, Nepal, Bangladesh and South Africa. He has participated as a speaker in various international / national literature festivals and events such as the Jaipur Literature festival, Asia Society Hong Kong, International Conference on “Shared Buddhist Heritage in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States, 2023” (India being the Chair of SCO in 2023) amongst others…
Presently, he is serving as Commissioner, GST in the state of Uttarakhand for the Govt. of India. He is married to Mrs. Saloni Aron, M.Com. They have two daughters.