In just a few years of donning the hat of a bureaucrat, a Telugu IAS officer has earned unique titles, thanks to his work in God's own country. M. Krishna Teja, Collector of Thrissur, Kerala, is also known as the ‘collector uncle’ among the student community because of his constant efforts to interact with and inspire school children and college-going youth. Now, the native of the Guntur region in coastal Andhra is all set to work with Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, who is also the Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Departments. It has been learned that the official orders deputing him to AP from his parent cadre, Kerala, will be issued soon.
Among the many tales that have contributed to Krishna Teja’s popularity is the one that took place in one of the government-aided schools of Thrissur district, which is fondly remembered by the locals and the media. There was a theft in the school that robbed the premises of its regular quota of rice, vegetables, and other edible ingredients. As a result, the students of the institution became demoralized and left teary-eyed. Later, to cheer them up and build confidence in them, Krishna Teja gifted a smart touchscreen monitor to the students to aid in their education.
“He never says no to a college or school event where he has to address youngsters. He loves sharing his experiences and listening to them,” said a Malayalam newspaper journalist who has closely tracked Krishna Teja professionally. Given his humble and poor background, which he broke out of during his growing up years, he feels that it is his mission to impart his knowledge to young minds. Regarded as sharp and intelligent, the officer has surprised the locals over his mastery of Malayalam language by fluently speaking and writing it.
He was also lauded for his administrative and humanitarian work during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the steps he took was to support the educational needs of children whose one or both parents had succumbed to the COVID-19 virus. Around 300 such children from Alappuzha and Thrissur districts are being supported by generous donors roped in by the IAS officer of the 2015 batch. As a sub-collector of Alappuzha district in 2018, Krishna Teja was at the forefront of rescue and rehabilitation efforts for locals during the Kerala floods, which was widely appreciated.
Krishna Teja also grabbed headlines as the tourism director when he introduced creative initiatives like ‘Keravan Kerala,’ meant to encourage tourists to explore tourist circuits in Kerala in caravan vehicles.
The officer has earned the reputation of being a ‘sweet’ and ‘simple’ person who donates his salary at every given opportunity. But that doesn’t take away from his other facet, which is that of a stern officer who goes by the rule book. In Alappuzha, he implemented a court order to demolish a resort that violated environmental norms.
According to sources, Krishna Teja was on the radar of Pawan Kalyan for some time now as he had interacted with him in the past in a personal capacity and was impressed by his work. Since Krishna Teja is also a qualified engineer in computer sciences and Pawan Kalyan also has been entrusted with science and technology portfolio, the decision to bring in Krishna Teja become all the more critical.
