From the hard life of a ‘Bread Boy’ to be an elite officer of distinction, Rajesh Prabhakar Patil has walked a long way in life.
Patil, a 2005-batch IAS officer and now District Magistrate of Mayurbhanj, used to sell “fresh breads” during his early schooldays to earn at least `3 day to meet his study expenses.
The struggle of the young officer is described in details in a book written by him entitled Maa, I’ve become a Collector! Patil was Collector of Koraput and Kandhamal before manning another tribal district, Mayurbhanj.
The English version of his book was released on Friday at a hotel here at a simple function by former Chief Secretary Sudhansu Bhusan Mishra. The book, originally written in Marathi, is a 224-page autobiography of Patil.
Published by Unicorn Books, New Delhi, the book was earlier translated into Odia. Born to a poor farmer family of an interior village in Maharashtra, Patil struggled hard in his life to become get into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), reveals the book. “So, he has a lot of feeling for the poor and downtrodden,” observed motivational speaker Barendra Kumar at the book release ceremony.
The ceremony was organised by the Kadambini Media Group, a leading Bhubaneswar-based publication house, which publishes the most popular women’s magazine Kadambini.
Founder of KIIT University Dr Achyuta Samanta graced the occasion along with TV scribe Manoranjan Mishra and ITER College Director RN Panda.
Former Chief Secretary SB Mishra expressed concern over the steady decline in the success rate of Odia candidates in All India Civil Service Examination. He outlined the steps necessary to reverse the trend by the Odia aspirants.
Dr Samanta lauded the perseverance of Patil and said his life would inspire thousands of tribal boys and girls studying at the KISS, the largest educational complex for tribal students at the KIIT campus.
Patil spoke at length about his life and the struggles he faced during early years and asserted that with determination and hard work success can be achieved in trying situations.
