Senior Civil Servant · AI Practitioner · Policy Architect · Philosophy & Neuroscience Writer

Bridging Algorithmic
Intelligence with
Indian Governance

A civil servant’s notebook on AI, philosophy of mind, and the art of governing 1.4 billion people.

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23+
Years in Service
5
Union Ministries Served
10M+
Citizens Served
1
State Being Served
Dr. B.V.R.C. Purushottam
Dr. B.V.R.C. Purushottam
IAS · UC Berkeley · Uttarakhand
What I write about

Four Intellectual Territories

AI, ML & DL for Governance

Notes on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and information theory — and how these tools can reimagine governance, decision-making, and the architecture of public institutions.

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The Policy Lab

Field dispatches and data-driven policy thinking from the departments I currently lead — Animal Husbandry, Dairy, Fisheries, and Elections — plus earlier work across cooperatives and education.

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Philosophy of Mind

Eastern wisdom meets cognitive science — from the Gita and the Yoga Sutras to Friston, Feldman Barrett, and Kahneman. The examined life of a decision-maker, written in essays.

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The Proving Ground

Projects and field work that made a difference — and mattered personally. Plus an open accountability tracker for the things I am building, running, and walking in real time.

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Selected Essays

Featured Insights

Live from Ghost
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success-paradox

Why Too Much Discipline Can Quietly Destroy Your Success

Sustained success is not maximum discipline. It is a strong skeleton with deliberate chaos — roughly sixty percent order, forty percent surprise.

May 2026Read →
Information theory

How Do You Preserve a Message Across Millennia?

A few months ago, I was walking through one of those busy market lanes in Rishikesh — the kind where incense smoke mixes with river air, and every third shop is selling something you did not know you needed. I was not looking for anything in particular. But I stopped at a small bookshop, the kind with books stacked in no particular order, spilling off shelves and onto the floor. There were dozens of editions of the Vedas. Translations, commentaries, Sanskrit originals with transliterations, poc

May 2026Read →
Information theory

You Are Not Alone. You were Decoded

What Information Theory Reveals About the Loneliness of Men in Their Forties Introduction Today I came across a tweet from a man in his forties. His story felt familiar, almost as if I could have written it myself. "I am 42, senior IT job, house in Chennai, supportive wife, two kids. On paper, perfect. But my phone rarely rings for anything personal. At home, I am just 'Appa' — the person who pays school fees and fixes the Wi-Fi. At work, I must appear confident and strong, even when I qu

Apr 2026Read →
Impact in numbers

Two decades of public service, in figures

0+
MPACS digitised in Uttarakhand under UKCDP
0+
apple farmers across 21 cooperatives, 11 districts
0
Union Ministries served at Director / Joint Sec.
NEP 2020
co-architect and implementation lead
The arc

A career, briefly

  1. 2001
    Bachelor's in Veterinary Science completed
  2. 2002
    Cleared the Indian Postal Service (IPoS) examination
  3. 2003
    Joined the Indian Police Service (IPS)
  4. 2004
    Joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) — AIR 42
  5. 2007–14
    District Magistrate, Government of Uttarakhand
  6. 2014–21
    Senior roles, Government of India
  7. 2021–24
    Secretary-level roles, Government of Uttarakhand
Beyond the Blog

Other work

Book

Your Brain Is Running Old Software

Thirteen principles. Four parts.

Grounded in Karl Friston's Free Energy Principle, prediction processing, embodied cognition, and attention research. Written as a dialogue rather than a lecture — so the underlying neuroscience stays rigorous, the reading stays plain. Each principle is a small upgrade you can run on your own mind, starting today.

Visit upgradeurbrain.com →
Charitable Foundation

Srilan Foundation

A Legacy of Love, Learning, Health and Dignity

Supports meritorious girls from below-poverty-line families with scholarships, learning materials, and mentoring through Classes 8–12. Organises medical camps for early detection of cancers, diabetes, and other chronic illness. Provides care for elderly persons without adequate family support, complementing existing government schemes.

Visit srilan.org →
In their words

Recommendations from eminent voices

Purushottam Basava is an upright career IAS officer, hardworking, honest, and follows processes with absolute due diligence, while at the same time kind, helpful, and humane in approach. He draws his strength from his deep-rooted spiritual moorings.

Shri Anil Sahasrabudhe
Former Chairman AICTE, Chairman of National Educational Technology Forum
Signal from the Frontier

If this resonated — here's where it continues

Essays on AI, governance, decision-making, neuroscience, and reflective thought — by a serving IAS officer. Unsubscribe anytime.

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Views expressed are personal and do not represent the Government of India or the Government of Uttarakhand.