Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday night suspended two IAS officials after Chief Secretary Sarada Muralidharan found them on the wrong foot for their deeds.
The suspended officials are Special Secretary of Agriculture N. Prasanth and Kerala Industry and Commerce Director K. Gopalakrishnan.
Prasanth got the orders after he openly took on Additional Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak.
Jayathilak alleged that Prasanth was misusing his position while bypassing the given protocol by submitting official files directly to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
Jayathilak also has alleged that Prasanth has also held the SC/ST Special Secretary post by falsifying his attendance and remaining absent. “Prasanth even refuses to attend important official meetings,” claimed Jayathilak.
Prasanth, in his response to the allegations, said that media reports about him (Prasanth) are been given by “Special Reporter Jayathilak IAS.”
“I will also post information about Jayathilak which the public should be aware of soon. The public is free to post comments on what I will write. But they should do it with some restraint as he (Jayathilak) has already claimed he will be the Next Chief Secretary of the state,” Prasanth wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Gopalakrishnan ran into trouble after it surfaced when a state minister assured that an investigation would be done into a WhatsApp group named ‘Mallu Hindu Officers’ allegedly administered by Gopalakrishnan,
He tried to wriggle out by stating that his phone was hacked and registered a complaint with the police. Police after investigation got a report from Meta and the forensic authorities that hacking was not found out.
The so-called group had 11 IAS officers and it was last week that this issue surfaced and became a controversy.
When officials informed Gopalakrishnan, the account disappeared.
Things would have gone unnoticed had some members of the group not raised apprehensions and quick to act was the official who sent a message: “Dear all, it appears that someone has taken control of my mobile device, creating 11 groups and adding all my contacts. I have uninstalled the app, manually removed the groups from my WhatsApp, and will be changing my phone soon.”
Former Chief Secretary IAS Officers Association President B. Ashok told the media that the state government has the power to take action, however, the Association will provide them with the necessary support.
Former Chief Secretary Jiji Thompson pointed out that the two officials behaved in an immature manner and the action from the government came a bit late.
–IANS
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