A former IAS officer, Swapnanil is constantly working for the youth and social welfare and transforming the lives of the youth of Assam by promoting the slogan "Drop the gun and sing a song."

Swapnanil Barua is a retired IAS officer from Guwahati, Assam. He had offered his services from 1982 to 2016. Presently, he has been engaging himself in social work activities, especially in the fields of youth welfare and heritage conservation. He has also written books on social issues. He is associated with a few organisations that are working to promote the culture of Assam.

Swapnanil was born and brought up in Shillong, the beautiful capital city of Meghalaya.

Describing his childhood, Swapnanil says, as his family was a reasonably well-off one, he was fortunate to attend St. Edmund School in Shillong, one of the best schools in the country. After his father’s transfer to Guwahati, he went to Don Bosco School there. During his school days, he was also associated with NSS, where he used to do social work by participating in flood relief camps every summer. He went to Cotton University in Guwahati, where he studied Economics as one of his major subjects.

Describing his journey, Swapnanil says that after finishing his college, he worked in the corporate sector for three years. Meanwhile, he was preparing for the IAS exams, which he passed in 1982. He worked as an IAS officer for 37 years, from 1982 to 2016. He also studied at the University of Toronto for a short course on Public Administration. He pursued different courses at reputed Indian institutes like IIM-Ahmedabad, IIM-Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Public Administration, and many more.

For most of his service, he was assigned to departments dealing with youth and cultural welfare. He was actively dealing with the department of sports and youth welfare, Nehru Yuva Kendra, the National Services Organization, etc. He was also part of the All India Football Federation and the National School Games Federation of India, where he was vice president for two terms. He also took an Indian team to Korea, Jakarta, and Dubai. Working with the youth welfare and sports departments, he developed a desire to work for youth welfare and promoting sports and culture. Now, he gives motivational talks at colleges to encourage students to take the administrative service exams, and if they are not interested in the administration services, he motivates them to become entrepreneurs for the upliftment of the economy of the North-East.

Speaking about his challenges in the field of social work, Swapnanil says that in his college days he used to visit villages to help people rebuild their houses, but the major challenge he used to face was winning the trust of the villagers. The villagers used to suspect the urban people and never believed that people could come for help with no hidden interest or agenda.

Another challenge he faced was marketing in the field of agriculture, which was the major problem faced by small farmers. Now, he has become the link between the farmer and the seller to help farmers get the deserved price for their produce.

When asked about his accomplishments, Swapananil says he always followed the saying "Do your duty without worrying about the results." However, through his work with the federal and state governments, particularly when promoting the welfare of farmers and young people who were not eligible for higher education, he has bridged the talent and opportunity gaps. He says that his efforts are now being acknowledged by others. His slogan, "Leave the Gun and Sing the Song," inspires young people to make positive changes in their lives.

When asked about mistakes, Swapnanil says the biggest mistake we make is to forget that time is flying by and never comes back. He thinks that in his initial stage, he also faltered for the same reason: that there is not enough time to accomplish things in life. He's learned that time is always an issue when doing good work.

When asked about his role models, Swapnanil says he looks up to his father as his role model. He says that the family experienced significant distress as a result of his grandfather's early death. His father has been his greatest inspiration because he overcame a difficult childhood and was able to go over it.

His other sources of inspiration have been Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, whose words "Ekla Chalo Re" have always guided him through difficult times.

To reduce his stress, Swapnanil tries to divert himself from the particular thought by singing, listening to a song, or going on a long walk. He tries to understand the extreme consequences of the problem. He says this perspective on his problems makes him calm and relaxed.

Swapnanil's life mantra is "Take little steps and stay focused on your goals." Further, he advises that rather than trying to accomplish huge things in a short amount of time, consider accomplishing them in manageable, small steps that will allow you to take pleasure in your job along the way.