In a first, 30-year-old Pranjal Patil on Monday become the country’s first visually challenged woman IAS officer to take charge as the Assistant Collector of Ernakulam district of Kerala. On the historic occasion, Patil was received at the Collectorate by Senior Superintendent of police and some other senior government officials. Patil hails from Maharashtra and she has created history by becoming the visually-challenged IAS officer to be appointed in Kerala cadre.
Born with weak eyesight, Patil lost her vision at the age of six but that did not stop her pursuing her dream of becoming an IAS officer. Patil braved all odds to clear the UPSC exams in the first attempt. She was offered a job in the Indian Railway Account Services after clearing the exams but her vision problem became a hindrance.
Though Patil was left disappointed due to this development and she continued her studies, finally managing to improve her ranking in the second attempt. Patil cracked the UPSC exams in the second attempt as well and stood 124th in the country. In 2017, she was appointed the assistant collector at Ernakulam for which she underwent training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie.
