Steena Das By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The capital has a new collector. K Gopalakrishnan took charge as the district collector of Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. With the increase in issues related to sea erosion in the district, priority will be given to ensure the safety of the fishermen community in the affected areas, he said. What will be your priority? "It's not my priority, it is the people's priority. Thus preferences will be given according to their needs," said Gopalakrishnan. "Though I was in the district for a few occasions, I'm unfamiliar with this place. Therefore I need at least two weeks time to study problems with respect to the district to prioritise services," he said. Stressing on the sea erosion issue the collector said, "The erosion has raised major concern among the community; I'll look into the issue and solve it at the earliest." The collector assured to look after the welfare of the people along with the work assigned by the government including those in the education, transportation, health and housing sectors. "I'm dedicating my life to the people of Thiruvananthapuram. People can reach out to me over a call or in person to talk about their issues," he said. He reached the Collectorate by 11 am to take charge as the collector. He was accompanied by his parents, wife and two daughters. Gopalakrishnan was born in an agrarian family at Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu. He studied in a government school till Class XII. He finished his Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Chennai. He joined IIT to pursue MTech in 2003 but dropped out owing to personal issues. Later he worked as a software engineer for a while from 2004. He went to the US in the year 2006 and remained there till 2011. "Life in the US invoked me to think about upgrading the living standards in our country. Thus I left my job and came back to India to prepare for UPSC," said Gopalakrishnan. Gopalakrishnan cleared UPSC in the year 2013. He had worked as assistant secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. He has worked as a trainee collector in Malappuram district and as a sub-collector in Kozhikode. He worked as executive director, Kerala Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency before becoming the district collector of the capital city.

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