With an innovative idea to remove bureaucracy and help people in the area, Kozhikode district collector, an IAS officer, has become a big social media sensation.
That’s because of his innovative use of the Facebook to feed hungry.
Nicknamed as Collector Bro, the IAS officer N Prasanth has successfully used his Facebook page to, among other things, distribute food coupons.
The Facebook page has drawn over 2 lakh respondents and followers in just under a year.
As reported by The Hindu, what brought global fame to this young officer was Compassionate Kozhikode, a platform to get people to feed the poor.
Under Operation Sulaimani named after a local tea recipe, several local restaurants ensured that no city inhabitants went hungry.
The beneficiaries just need to collect a food coupon kept by a donor in a box, and get a decent meal in any of these restaurants. There is no need to beg and about ten thousand meals have been served so far.
Prasanth, who took office in February last year, said, “We sorted out the immediate requirements of the mental hospital here in a matter of weeks, bypassing cumbersome government procedures. Contributions were accepted only in kind. Mass mobilisation by offering biriyani to those who helped clean the district’s ponds was another effort.”
These and other initiatives have made him so popular that even the state government is finding it difficult to transfer him out of the district. According to a report, the state government briefly considered moving out of the district last year, but was forced to drop the idea avoid a mass local agitation.
The 35-year-old IAS officer said, “A lot of people frequent Facebook now, and being able to use Malayalam has added to the potential. It is a great feeling when someone comes with a petition and mentions that he has sent me a complaint the day before on Facebook. We check and mostly find it has already been resolved. The citizen satisfaction is boundless.”