Reining in civil servants in Kerala

Suspended IAS officer N. Prasanth addresses the media in Thiruvananthapuram.
| Photo Credit: PTI

In the last few days, the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala has been grappling with two controversies involving civil servants. In the first instance, the Director of Industries and Commerce, K. Gopalakrishnan, caused a stir after he allegedly formed a WhatsApp group titled ‘Mallu Hindu Officers’. In the second, Agricultural Department Special Secretary N. Prasanth made some serious allegations on social media against his senior colleague, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) A. Jayathilak. On November 11, following the submission of an inquiry report by the Chief Secretary, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan suspended both Mr. Gopalakrishnan and Mr. Prasanth on charges of official misconduct, neglect of service rules, and impropriety.

The incidents have provided ammunition to the Congress, especially since they come at an opportune time for the Opposition party — byelections to the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat and the Palakkad and Chelakkara Assembly segments are being held this month. On the WhatsApp group issue, the Leader of the Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, accused the State government of turning a blind eye to the infiltration of religious fundamentalists in the administration. He alleged that Mr. Vijayan remained a mere spectator even as bickering between key police and administrative officials spilled into the public domain.

Also read | Police fail to confirm hacking of IAS officer’s phone in row over religious WhatsApp group

Shortly after the controversy erupted, Mr. Gopalakrishnan reported to the police that his mobile phone had been compromised. Subsequently, he disbanded the group and denied that he had added officials to it. A police investigation did not uncover any evidence of a cyber attack on the device. Forensic examination of the phone also did not yield any relevant information.

However, it was Mr. Prasanth’s posts that gave the State government a more severe headache. The officer took to Facebook, alleging that Mr. Jayathilak had leaked official reports to the media and had also proclaimed himself the next Chief Secretary.

Mr. Prasanth was provoked by a news story, which said that Mr. Jayathilak had submitted an adverse report against him to the Chief Minister, accusing him of falsifying attendance and frequently failing to report for duty. The report said that key files on the Unnathi project, set up for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, had gone missing during Mr. Prasanth’s tenure as CEO.

Citing Article 311 of the Constitution, which acts as a safeguard to civil servants so that they are not dismissed arbitrarily from service, Mr. Prasanth alleged that Mr. Jayathilak had deliberately undermined the careers of upright IAS officers who had stood their ground against his demands.

Also read | Government caught napping as key officials wrangle in public

Despite State Revenue Minister K. Rajan’s stern warning that disciplinary action would be taken against officers who violate service rules, Mr. Prasanth continued his diatribe on social media. In one post on Facebook, he used an advertisement of an agricultural weeder machine developed by the Kerala Agro Machinery Corporation, along with a dialogue from the Malayalam film Lucifer, to portray himself as a farmer removing weeds — an apparent metaphor for his efforts to expose alleged misconduct by his seniors.

Both Mr. Prasanth and Mr. Jayathilak, former Collectors of Kozhikode district, are no strangers to controversy. Incidentally, Mr. Prasanth was Assistant Collector when Mr. Jayathilak was Collector. Mr. Jayathilak was transferred out of Kozhikode during bypolls to the Thiruvambadi Assembly segment in 2006 for casting aspersions on an election observer from Andhra Pradesh. A decade later, Mr. Prasanth, as Collector, had a public spat with Kozhikode MP M.K. Raghavan on social media, accusing the Congress leader of threatening staff at the Collectorate. Popularly known as “Collector Bro” during his tenure, Mr. Prasanth earned praise for initiating multiple schemes, including ‘Compassionate Kozhikode’, a platform to get people to feed the poor. His effective use of social media allowed for direct engagement with the public then.

Mr. Vijayan’s decisive action serves as a reminder to officers that there are proper channels for addressing such matters and that social media is not the right platform. The situation also highlights the necessity for a sustained and meaningful dialogue between the government and IAS officers. Equally important is the IAS Association’s role in fostering professionalism and decorum among its ranks.