Kozhikode: Braving all odds, Sreedhanya Suresh, the first tribal woman from Kerala who cracked the civil service examination, will join as Assistant Collector in Kozhikode district. The 26-year-old Sreedhanya belongs to the Kurichya community in Pozhuthana village in Wayanad district.

The tribal woman, who is now undergoing training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, will join duty after completing the mandatory quarantine period.

As soon as the news came out a few days ago, social media platforms were abuzz with details of her background and achievements. Her interviews, even those that date back a year, were widely shared to motivate youngsters, especially Civil Services aspirants.

Interestingly, she is posted under Kozhikode Collector Sreeram Sambasiva Rao, who inspired her to become a civil service officer, while he was serving as a Sub-Collector in Wayanad district earlier.

Sreedhanya secured 410th rank in the third attempt in civil service examination. She has won widespread acclaim for cracking the UPSC examinations. Sreedhanya’s rise from an underprivileged background to securing 410th rank in one of the most prestigious examinations in the country is indeed motivational.

Second of three children of Suresh and Kamala, daily wage workers at Ambalakkolli in Pozhuthana Grama Panchayat in Wayanad district, Sreedhanya studied in local schools. She graduated in Zoology from St. Joseph College, Devagiri, Kozhikode, and completed post-graduation in Applied Zoology from the Calicut University campus.

Though Civil Services had always been in the back of her mind, it was a meeting with Sreeram Sambasiva Rao, the then Sub-Collector of Manandavadi, four years ago that firmed up her resolve.