Young IAS officer guides bright minds on the right path

Dantewada is a tribal dominated district in Chattisgarh where exploits of the Maoists often make headlines. The District Collector of Dantewada, Saurabh Kumar is on a mission to guide the bright young minds on the right career path so that they do not have to go down the path of violence. The 2009-batch IAS officer is quietly helping students by conducting two-hour career counselling sessions, held every Wednesday popularly known as “Lunch with the Collector.” The session is attended by 50-100 students from government schools in the district. Every student speaks about his /her area of interest in studies. Kumar and his team make notes and guide them on the professional courses that they could pursue. Often, even brighter students are not aware of institutes such as IITs or AIIMS. After the counselling session, everyone partakes in a simple lunch of poori, dal, sabzi, salad and papad. Over lunch, the officials in Team Kumar—district judges, district police officers or any other visiting VIP—seek feedback from the students and answer their queries. These sessions help to boost the students’ self-confidence. They derive inspiration from the stories of struggle and competitiveness that the Collector and police officers narrate.