Beed Collector Chats With Students, Inspires Them To Dream Big

Beed: Niyojan Bhavan at the District Collectorate recently buzzed with an unusual and inspiring energy as 30 primary school students gathered not for a formal ceremony, but for a freewheeling conversation with District Collector Avinash Pathak on Saturday.

Under a new administrative outreach initiative titled ‘Collector-shi Gappa’ (Candid Chats with the Collector), children from Zilla Parishad Primary School in Kotan, Patoda tehsil, spent the afternoon interacting directly with the district chief. The initiative seeks to bridge the traditional divide between the administration and the public, starting at the grassroots with young minds.

District Planning Officer Sheela Misal, Assistant District Planning Officers Radhakrishna Ighare and Jeevan Rajput, Deputy Education Officer Syed Anjum and teacher Rahul Dongar were present during the session.

Setting aside administrative formalities, the Collector shared personal anecdotes from his own life, candidly admitting that joining the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) was not a childhood dream.

After graduating in Mechanical Engineering in 2010, he began preparing for the civil services. He faced setbacks early on, but persistence paid off. He first qualified for the Indian Revenue Service (IRS – Customs and GST) before clearing the examination again to join the IAS.

“Success doesn't always come on the first try. That is why having a ‘Plan B’ and maintaining relentless determination is essential,” he told the children.

Urging the students to dream boldly, the Collector said that real, lasting transformation in the region depended on them.

“You are the future of Beed. The district’s growth and positive transformation will be driven by your ambitions,” he said, encouraging them to pursue diverse careers in public service, medicine, entrepreneurship and cutting-edge science at organisations such as ISRO and NASA. “Whatever path you choose, self-belief is non-negotiable," he said.

The interaction took a more insightful turn when the students began raising questions about the district’s recurring challenges, particularly drought and agrarian distress.

Addressing their queries, the Collector explained environmental phenomena such as the El Niño effect and its impact on local monsoon patterns. He also discussed agricultural shifts, explaining why local farmers had increasingly turned to short-cycle, less water-intensive crops such as soybean.

To address fodder shortages, he introduced the students to modern alternatives such as hydroponics and preserved dry fodder. He stressed the importance of ecological conservation, urging every student to take up rainwater harvesting and plant trees during the upcoming monsoon season.

Highlighting ongoing development projects, the Collector noted the arrival of railway services in Beed and announced that a dedicated planetarium was being set up to foster scientific curiosity among students.

The discussion also touched on responsible citizenship. Drawing parallels with civic cultures in Kerala and various international models, the Collector spoke about the importance of everyday discipline, urging the children to develop habits such as following traffic rules and wearing helmets from an early age.

What began as an informal outreach session ended as a lesson in grassroots mentorship, demystifying governance and planting seeds of ambition, resilience and civic pride in the district’s next generation.