First visually challenged woman IAS posted in Kerala

Pranjal Patil, the first visually challenged woman IAS officer in the country, received a warm reception as she took over as sub-collector of Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

Pranjal, who secured 124th rank in civil services examination in 2017, fighting her visual challenges, has been working as assistant collector in Kochi so far.

After taking over the new post, Pranjal told reporters that the message she wanted to give to all aspirants was not to give up in life, ever. "One should never give up in life. With continuous efforts, everyone will get the breakthrough they wish," said Pranjal, who secured 773rd rank in 2016 and improved it to 124 in the next year.

A native of Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra, the 30-year-old IAS officer got a warm reception with senior IAS officer Biju Prabhakar and district collector K Gopalakrishnan coming down to greet her. As the sub-collector of Thiruvananthapuram, Pranjal would face challenging days ahead.

Pranjal was visually challenged at the age of six. She secured a masters degree in International Relations from JNU. She did not attend any civil service coaching camps, except for some mock interviews. Pranjal was also helped in her studies and work by software for visually challenged individuals.