ADILABAD: “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door,” was how American actor Milton Berle put it when it came to inspiring people. He now has company in the form of Rajendra Bharud — a 2013 batch IAS officer from Dhule in Maharashtra — who is creating waves for promoting education as route to development right in his initial years of service.
The 30-year-old ‘campaigner’ belongs to the Bhil tribe and is posted as Assistant Collector and Sub Divisional Magistrate at Kinwat and Mahore tehsils, one of the most backward tribal areas in Maharashtra. His autobiographical sketch in Marathi, ‘ Mee ek swapn pahila ’ has sold 70,000 copies in the last three years and the demand has not diminished.
Inspirational tale
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The story of Bharud is a moving tale, like the ones which go into making of movies. His academic path has been a string of successes in exams culminating in his joining the Indian Administrative Service, a dream he realised through sheer hard work.
“My father died when I was still in the womb,” he recalled talking to The Hindu at his small official residence at Kinwat town. “I had free education up to 12th,” he added to drive home the point about the poverty in which his family lived.
It was apparently sheer determination that he scored over 95 per cent in 12th and later in the Common Entrance Test to land with a seat in MBBS. “I had not even completed MBBS when I cleared the UPSC exam,” he recalled.
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The book gives out details of his life as a rural tribal child and the phase of growing up. It also has in detail the account of his attempts in Civil Services exams.