Kerala govt suspends two IAS officers for violation of discipline

The Kerala government on Monday (November 11) suspended two IAS officers, K Gopalakrishnan and N Prasanth, for violation of discipline.

While Gopalakrishnan was suspended for creating a religion-based WhatsApp group of government officials, action was taken against Prasanth for criticising a senior IAS officer on social media, according to reports.

They also said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ordered the suspension of the officials based on the report he received from the Chief Secretary.

While Gopalakrishnan was the Director of Industries and Commerce, Prasanth held the responsibility of Special Secretary in the Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers' Welfare.

Prasanth recently took to Facebook to accuse A Jayathilak, the Additional Chief Secretary, of "orchestrating baseless" news reports against him.

In his post, Prasanth alleged that Jayathilak had become a "special reporter' and was working to undermine him by spreading unfounded allegations through the media.

Attacking Jayathilak, the post read, "I feel compelled to share some important facts about Jayathilak, a senior IAS officer, that the public deserves to know.

"Although I generally avoid discussing government matters in public, there seems to be no alternative at this point. My intention is to reveal only those issues that the public has the right to know, in accordance with the Right to Information." The issue cropped up following a media report that alleged lapses on Prasanth's part, claiming that several crucial files from 'Unnathi'--an initiative dedicated to the welfare of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs)--had mysteriously gone missing during his tenure as its CEO.

The report also claimed that Jayathilak had submitted a report on this matter to Chief Minister Vijayan.

Prasanth, who previously served as Kozhikode District Collector and in other top posts, is popularly known as 'Collector Bro' and had earlier posted on Facebook to refute the allegations against him.

Also Read: Kerala WhatsApp group row: IAS officer’s phone reset, ‘unclear’ whether hacked

Regarding the allegations against Gopalakrishnan, the Kerala police conducted an investigation following his complaint that his WhatsApp account was used to create religion-based WhatsApp groups. The Thiruvananthapuram city police carried out an investigation and submitted a report to the state police chief.

Amid reports quoting the police suggesting that the IAS officer's phone was not hacked, Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Sparjan Kumar stated that it remains unclear whether the device was compromised, as it had been 'reset.' In the controversial WhatsApp group, officers from various communities were added, and the group was labelled as a Hindu community group.

In his complaint to the police, Gopalakrishnan stated that he had not added any officers to the group in question.

Minister warns officers

Earlier in the day, Kerala Revenue Minister K Rajan had said that government officials should follow certain disciplines while being in service, and anyone who breaches them would be dealt with stringent actions.

He said the government can't allow officials to work in violation of service rules and disciplines.

The minister was responding to questions by reporters in connection with some recent Facebook posts by Prasanth against his senior colleague Jayathilak, which sparked controversy in the state.

Without naming any officials, Rajan had said the government was viewing the matter with "utmost seriousness" and the Chief Secretary would soon submit a report in this regard.

"After getting this, the chief minister will take a stringent decision on this," he had said.

(With Agency inputs)