Kasaragod: Sreedhanya Suresh took charge as Kasaragod District Collector on Wednesday, seeking support from the people, government departments, and the media to advance the district’s development. She took over from Arjun Pandian, who has been transferred as Director of the Agriculture Development and Farmers Welfare Department.

The appointment marks Sreedhanya’s first posting as a district collector and makes her Kerala’s first woman from a Scheduled Tribe community to head a district as Collector.

Speaking to the media after assuming charge, Sreedhanya said Kasaragod has significant development potential, particularly in tourism, industry and agriculture. “Kasaragod has a lot of development potential. Being at the northern end of Kerala and one of the youngest districts in the state, there are several areas in which we can make progress,” she said.

Tourism, in particular, offered the district an opportunity to emerge as a major destination, she said. Along with tourism, there was considerable scope for industrial development, agriculture and agro-based activities.

The availability of government land was another advantage that could be explored for development projects, Sreedhanya said. She would seek to identify the district’s limitations and work with various departments to address them and take forward feasible development initiatives.

“Kasaragod is one of the priority districts of the government. More projects, including in industry and agriculture, need to come here. We will look at what can be done in different sectors and take those initiatives forward with the support of the people,” she said.

She also sought the cooperation of the people of Kasaragod, a district known for its linguistic and cultural diversity, as well as that of the media.

AIIMS proposal
On the proposal to establish an AIIMS in Kasaragod, Sreedhanya said she would first discuss the matter with Arjun Pandian, who had submitted a proposal to the government identifying a site for the project at Periya.

“I will discuss the proposal with him (Arjun Pandian) first,” she said. Sreedhanya said the proposal would be examined in detail and further steps taken in consultation with the government.

Pandian had earlier submitted a report to the government identifying government-controlled land at Periya in Kasaragod as a potential site for the proposed AIIMS in Kerala.

Sreedhanya, a 2019-batch IAS officer, was serving as Commissioner of Food Safety before being transferred to Kasaragod. She said the government had asked her to assume charge at short notice.

She had initially planned to travel to Kasaragod with her family but came directly from Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday night to take charge. Her family is expected to join her in Kasaragod on Saturday.

Sreedhanya also wished Pandian well in his new assignment. Pandian, a 2017-batch IAS officer, had served as Kasaragod Collector for the past six months after his tenure as Thrissur Collector.

He has been appointed Director of the Agriculture Development and Farmers Welfare Department and will also hold the full additional charge of Additional Project Director, KERA, Registrar of Co-operative Societies and Director of Co-operative Audit.

Sreedhanya said she hoped to work closely with the people and different government departments to make the most of Kasaragod’s development potential and bring forward projects that could benefit the district.