Kochi :

Pranjal Patil, who lost her vision at the age of eight, has braved all odds to become an IAS officer. On Monday, she took charge as the assistant collector of Ernakulam district.

Pranjal from Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra had cracked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in 2016 and secured 733rd rank in her first attempt. Since, Pranjal always wanted to become an IAS officer, she decided to give it a second try and went on to secure 124th rank in 2017.

Pranjal said that she is excited about her posting as the assistant collector of Ernakulam.

“This is my first major assignment. I completed my nine-month training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie, Uttarakhand, two weeks ago. Here I am undergoing further training to become a collector. So, this is like a practical exam for me. At present, I am considering areas that need my contribution, the areas I need to improve and what positive changes I can bring for the overall development of the district as a whole,” said Pranjal, who is looking forward to learn more about the city by interacting with people here.

For civil service aspirants, she said, “Have faith in yourself. Don’t listen to any negative comments but please be open to criticism. However, don’t get bogged down by criticism. Things may take time to get the desired outcome but we shouldn’t give up.”

According to her parents, L B Patil and Jyothi Patil, Pranjal lost her vision when a student in her class poked one of her eyes with a pencil which eventually led to retinal detachment and as a result she lost the vision of her left eye. Doctors warned her parents that she might soon lose vision in the other eye too and unfortunately, the warning proved to be right and she lost the vision in her other eye within a year.

However, Pranjal’s parents never let blindness come in the way of her education. Her parents said that Pranjal has been good at studies right from her childhood. They sent Pranjal to Kamla Mehta School for Blind in Dadar, Mumbai,. She did her graduation in Political Science from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai and later earned a master’s degree in international relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

“People who always look for excuses for their failures should learn from my daughter,” said L B Patil, Pranjal’s father.

Pranjal said that technology played an important role in her education. “I have learnt Braille. Now there is a screen reader software installed on my laptop which would read out chapters from various books for me. This software will scan the pages of the book or material I want to read and the software reads it out to me. The screen reader software also helps in carrying out various activities related with my work. Once you know how to use technology things will be easier,” she said.

Regarding whether cracking UPSC exams was a challenging one, Pranjal said that it was challenging for everyone not just her. “Challenge is in the sense of getting the right material and its accessibility. For me, finding a trustworthy scribe to write my exam was also a challenge. But things fell in the right place for me,” said Pranjal.

Pranjal said that her aim is to learn as many Malayalam words within a short span. “Malayalam is a language which is completely different from other languages that I know. So, it will need a lot of effort. But I strongly believe I can master it once I put in all the effort in right direction,” said Pranjal.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kochi News / TNN / May 30th, 2018