KOLLAM: For Abdul Nasar, it was a long journey from an orphanage to the District Collector’s office. The Thalassery man who assumed office as Kollam Collector the other day had lived the hard ways of life, spent childhood in an orphanage and came up to the top fighting all odds in life. Tragedy befell his family when Abdul was just 5. His father Abdul Khadar passed away, leaving his mother Manjumma Hajjumma alone to fend for six kids. The financial crisis pushed Manjumma to send her youngest son Abdul to an orphanage in Thalassery.
He spent the next 13 years at the orphanage. He had worked as a supplier and cleaner in hotels during his school days to fund his education. While pursuing his BA in English Literature at Government Brennen College, Thalassery, Abdul also worked as a telephone operator and a newspaper boy. After his graduation, he worked as a health inspector in Kerala Health Department and then as an upper primary teacher at a school in his village, and finally, after his preparations, he cracked the PSC exam for the post of deputy collector.
He passed the prelims in 2002 and mains in 2004. In 2006, he was appointed deputy collector. During his stint as the State Entrance Exam Commissioner, he was able to convert the exams into an online format. And in October 2017, he was elevated as an IAS officer.
Abdul is all praise for his mother whose hard work is behind all his achievements. “It was her hard work that made me the person I am today,” said the 49-year-old. He also appreciated the support he had received from his wife MK Ruksana, a higher secondary teacher. The couple has three children - Nayeema, an engineering graduate; Nuamul Haq, BBA student; and Inamul Haq, who studies in Class VIII.