IAS Pamela Satpathy, who belongs to the 2015 batch of the Telangana cadre and is currently posted as the district collector of Karimnagar, brings an empowering vision to her role.
 
Regarding her vision, she focuses on child safety and gender sensitization through her initiative, Snehitha, which means friend in telugu "The project is all about being a friend to the children and helping them understand what’s safe and what’s not,” she explains.

The initiative designed for both girls and boys addresses topics like good and bad touch, awareness of crime, and reporting practices “The initiative is being carried out in phases, with presentations by the district administration, alongside the police and excise departments” she said. "We simply talk to the students, explaining that certain behaviors are considered misbehavior or inappropriate touching. Often, we see students react with shock, asking, ‘Is touching here okay?’ We tell them that any touch that makes you uncomfortable is a bad touch."
 
The program also trains students on when and how to reach out for help “We’re sensitizing children about emergency contacts like dial 100 and child helpline 1098, and are encouraging them to contact if anything goes wrong," “Surprisingly, we're seeing more cases being reported, and students feel more comfortable opening up to us as strangers."
 
The initiative operates at zero cost with no posters or banners. Instead, a group of 10-20 girls in each school is selected as master trainers creating a network. “These girls act as our reporting channel, they also report cases of child marriages, and we’ve tracked and brought those children back.”
 
One of the biggest challenges, according to satpathy,is encouraging children to open up without fear of judgment. “If we address issues early, we can intervene effectively. Once the damage is done, like in cases of teenage pregnancy, what can we do? she explained. “whether they're right or wrong, it’s immaterial, we just want them to speak openly”
 
Beyond safety, Snehitha also broadens children’s perspectives “Through this program, they realize there are options beyond being a doctor or engineer. They now come to me asking, ‘How can I become an Agricultural Extension Officer or a Commercial Tax Officer?” she said.
 
Under her leadership, the same initiative was implemented in her previous district, Yadadri, Telangana, where around 66,000 students were trained. "Our target is to cover every school, just as we did in the previous district, where we reached every school," she said. "The results are slow but very effective and sustained."

In addition to this other initiatives focusing on children's well-being are underway like Consciousness Club which raises awareness about drugs and alcoholism in schools and colleges .A science program in 150 schools, where students grow kitchen gardens, conduct soil testing, and sell their produce. Another key initiative targets children who hadn’t passed their 10’th exam in the past 6 years. These students were tracked down and their exam fees were paid, and they were helped to re-join the mainstream with an 85% passing rate” They were out of touch for such a long time but were able to get good marks that was very encouraging for us.”