On Monday, October 14, India’s first visually impaired woman IAS officer took charge as Sub-collector of Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district.

Pranjal Patil hails from Ulhas Nagar in Maharashtra. She lost her vision when she was six years old. In her first civil service attempt in 2016, she secured 733rd rank. In 2017, she managed to secure 124th rank.

News18 quoted Patil as saying: “We should never be defeated and we should never give up. With our efforts, all of us will get that one breakthrough which we want.”

“I am feeling extremely glad and proud to take charge. Once I start working, I will have more idea about the subdivisions of the district and can have more plans to what to do for the subdivision,” she added.

She further said that what she expects from people of Thiruvanthapuram and her staff as she begins her work here is support and co-operation.

Patil completed her graduation in political science from St. Xavier’s college and pursued her Master’s in International relations from JNU.

During her training period, she was appointed Ernakulam Assistant Collector.

In earlier interviews, Patil said that being rejected by the Railways Department had disappointed her. She had gone through very severe pain after her eye surgeries, but they were successful.

Former district collector and social justice department secretary Biju Prabhakar also reached her office to congratulate her.

India’s first IAS officer with visual impairment was Krishna Gopal Tiwari from Madhya Pradesh.

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