Prasanth Nair is an Indian IAS (Indian Administrative Service) Officer and film director. He is well known for his experimental initiatives for poverty eradication and city administration in Kozhikode like “Compassionate Kozhikode,” “Operation Sulaimani” and “Savarigiri.”
Wiki/Biography
Prasanth Nair was born in 1986 (age 33 years; as in 2019) in Thalassery in Kannur District of Kerala. He spent his childhood in Thiruvananthapuram. He attended Thiruvananthapuram’s Loyola School. Nair did his graduation in law from the Government Law College Thiruvananthapuram, University of Kerala. As a child, he wanted to be a cinematographer but once he went to pursue his graduation he started preparing for the civil services. In 2007, he secured #AIR 4 in the UPSC examination and was to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) from the Kerala cadre.
Physical Appearance
Height: 5′ 9″
Weight: 72 kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Body Measurements: Chest 40″, Waist 32″, Biceps 12″
Family & Caste
Prasanth Nair belongs to Hindu Kshatriya Family. His mother was a professor at the Government Medical College. He is married to Lakshmi Nair and has a son, Amrithavarshan, and daughter, Ammu.
Career
After qualifying the civil services examination, Prasanth became the IAS (Indian Administrative Service) Officer of Kerala cadre in 2007. He was appointed as the Collector of Kozhikode, Kerala. Nair has served in various capacities in different sectors including Taxation, Tourism, Water Supply, Roads, and Skill Development. He has headed two projects of the World Bank namely, “KSTP” and “Jalandhini.” He earned public acclaim after he took novel initiatives for poverty eradication in Kozhikode. He launched several programmes during his tenure like Tere Mere Beach Mein, a project that was launched to handle the waste management at the Kozhikode Beach; Operation Sulaimani, a project which aimed to address hunger in urban areas; and Yo Appooppa, a program launched to improve the quality of life of the elderly men and women. Nair also launched “Compassionate Kozhikode” which was a social initiative to help the institutions like children’s home, old age homes, mental health centres, and palliative care centres. It soon earned him a title of “Collector Bro.”
In November 2017, Nair was appointed as the private secretary to KJ Alphons, the Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge) for 5 years. However, his appointment did not even last a year due to his differences with the minister. He has also served as a secretary to the then Home Minister, Ramesh Chennaithala.
In addition to his career as a civil servant, Prashant has made an acting stint in Ajay Devaloka’s “Who.” He has also directed a short film titled “Daivakanam” which had its World Premiere at 71st Cannes Film Festival.
Controversy
Prasanth Nair landed into a controversy when the district chief of Congress remarked that Nair was whiling time on the social media but not receiving the phone calls. Later, Nair during an interview said- “Putting a post on Facebook takes just five minutes. Just because my profile picture keeps smiling at you 24×7, doesn’t mean that I’m sitting there throughout. Secondly, I’m not chatting with my girlfriends. The citizens are communicating with me and getting their problems sorted out through this medium. And finally, Facebook and Twitter are additional media for citizen interface.”
Facts
- His hobbies include reading and travelling.
- His favourite colour is Black.
- Nair is affectionately called the “Collector Bro.”
- He is very famous for a unique proposal that he had offered to the people of the Kozhikode district. Nair promised a free plate of Malabar Biryani to each individual who comes forward to clean a 14-acre pond in Koyilandy. The proposal was a big success.
- Prasanth was appointed as a District Collector of Kozhikode for the period between 2015-2017.
- Prasanth is one of the most social media savvy IAS Officers with more than 2.5 lakh Facebook followers on his FB page, Collector Kozhikode. He uses his presence on Facebook to respond to the complaints and concerns of the public and create awareness about the welfare schemes. Besides being available on social platforms, he has also conducted various campaigns to solve local issues.
- While Nair was appointed as the collector in Calicut, he came to know that the menu in the Calicut Kuthiravattom Mental Health Centre has remained the same since 1971. So, he asked the hotels and restaurants associations and merchants to come forward for the cause and managed to serve them puttu for the first day.
- Prasanth is equally good at writing in English and Malayalam.He has also published various articles in Manorama, Malayala, Kerala Kaumudi, Mathrubhumi, and Malayalam Vaarika.