By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Pranjal Patil, the country's first visually-challenged IAS officer and former assistant collector of Ernakulam took charge as the sub-collector of Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

Pranjal who hails from Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra is the first visually challenged woman IAS officer to be appointed in the Kerala cadre. She was accompanied by Anu Kumari, the assistant collector as she went to the district collector K Gopalakrishnan's chamber to take charge as the sub-collector.

Sam Cletus, deputy collector (Land acquisition) signed the Report of Transfer of Charge (RTC) and handed over the charge to Pranjal, the newly appointed sub-collector.

Pranjal said that she was extremely glad and proud to take charge as the sub-collector and also expressed her desire to work for the welfare of the people. The officials at the Thiruvananthapuram collectorate were excited to welcome Pranjal who made it to the position despite losing her vision in childhood itself.

"I have received good support from Kerala. I started here as an assistant collector of Ernakulam in 2018. It was a challenging phase but a great learning experience." said Pranjal.

When she joined as Sub-collector and RDO, there were a host of senior officers including the principal secretary of Social Justice department Biju Prabhakar and district collector K Gopalakrishnan to welcome her. "I held a meeting with my colleagues in district administration on Monday. We discussed the work arrangement and prioritisation of files," said Pranjal.

On Tuesday, Chief Secretary Tom Jose visited Pranjal at her office in civil station at Kudappanakunnu on Tuesday. The top bureaucrat told her that the district had a conducive environment to serve public. He also welcomed her when she expressed her interest in visiting the office of Chief Secretary.