Coordinate with your team, don't drag work and give it your best shot.

Polite, young and a good listener, Hazaribagh DC Ravi Shankar Shukla, 2012-batch IAS officer who came from Latehar and took charge from predecessor Mukesh Kumar on Thursday evening, chaired his first meeting on Friday with officials at the district collectorate with this simple, to-the-point message.

Calling Hazaribagh his lucky charm, Shukla said in 2012 he was staying in here with his father Ramashankar Shukla, then additional district and sessions judge, when his UPSC results came out. "An unforgettable moment," he said.

"I was staying at my father's official quarters in front of Mount Carmel School. I'd in fact taken guidance for my civil service exams from then Hazaribagh DC Manish Ranjan and had studied hard for UPSC in this city itself," Shukla said, calling his official stint here a "happy homecoming".

An alumnus of Karim City College in Jamshedpur, Shukla, who is now the 87th Hazaribagh DC, said he had his sleeves rolled up for work.

There's huge scope to better people's lives if existing government schemes are implemented well, believes this young bureaucrat.

"I really believe that a good work culture with thrust on accountability at every rung can make a huge difference," Shukla said. "As bureaucrats, we are accountable to the people and all the people's representatives," he said.

He also added that teamwork was essential for administrators to work effectively.

His priorities would be implement government schemes properly, he said, as he sought help from his new team.

Shukla also hinted at taking a tough stand against land sharks and freeing water reservoirs from encroachment.

Speaking warmly about his predecessor Kumar's well-known initiatives such as Paint My City and measures to ensure blocks became open-defecation-free, Shukla said the good work would continue.

Shukla, who visited Hazaribagh Sadar Hospital on Thursday evening right after taking charge, also issued instructions for civil surgeon Rajendra Prasad Gupta on providing better treatment facilities and cleanliness and ensuring the premises had drinking water facility.

He also asked his officials to inspect the places where construction of dobas were on and submit a report to him.

His predecessor Kumar, now the state project director of Jharkhand Education Project Council, got his farewell on Friday evening.