Bhopal: The participation of two civil servants in a operate organised by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) earlier this month has triggered a large row in Madhya Pradesh, with the opposition Congress demanding motion towards the “errant” officers.
The event comes lower than six months earlier than the state is because of maintain meeting elections.
A viral photograph from the RSS operate (‘Samarpan Samaroh’) held in Satna on 11 June reveals the 2 officers, district collector Anurag Verma and municipal commissioner Rajesh Shahi, not solely attending the occasion but additionally holding their palms as much as carry out the ‘dhwaj pranaam‘ — the Hindutva organisation’s customary salute.
The salute is carried out by folding one’s proper arm, palm down, in entrance of 1’s chest.
Vivek Tankha, a Congress Rajya Sabha MP, tweeted a photograph of the occasion Sunday and stated in an accompanying publish in Hindi: “These photographs of two officers taking part in an RSS occasion and doing dhwaj pranaam are district collector Anurag Verma and municipal commissioner Rajesh Shahi. With such relations, how can these officers conduct free and neutral elections?”
Whereas Verma is an IAS officer, Shahi is from state civil providers.
Tankha additionally tagged the Election Fee of India to demand that the 2 officers be pulled out of the election course of, and urged the state’s chief secretary, Iqbal Singh Bains, to behave towards them.
मप्र के चीफ सेक्रेटरी से अपेक्षा है ऐसे अधिकारियों के विरुद्ध कार्यवाही करे। क्या CS ऐसा करेंगे। उनको रिटायरमेंट के पश्चात दूसरा एक्सटेंशन दिया गया है।मप्र की ८ करोड़ जनता अधिकारियों से निष्पक्षता की अपेक्षा करती है। जो अधिकारी राजनीति करेंगे उनके सितारे गर्दिश में ज़रूर जाएँगे।
— Vivek Tankha (@VTankha) June 18, 2023
On his half, Verma advised ThePrint that he had accompanied the state’s advocate basic, Prashant Singh, to the occasion.
“I don’t really feel that there was something flawed because it was a public occasion with over 8,000 individuals, and being current there, we participated within the stated customs,” he advised ThePrint.
When contacted, Shahi stated he and Verma had stood within the “identical posture as others” as a result of they have been a part of the occasion.
“This doesn’t imply that we belong or promote any explicit ideology,” he stated. “Simply two weeks in the past we went to an occasion organised by the Nirankari group and there have been prayers taking place and so we additionally stood with folded palms to be a part of that occasion. This doesn’t imply that we’re propagating their ideology. We’re authorities servants and typically take part in cultural occasions together with the group.”
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‘Will chief secretary act?’
The officers, in response to Tankha, had violated their service guidelines.
“The AG had gone in his capability as a politician — a place which the Structure permits AG to carry. However the service guidelines for a civil servant stipulate a distinct conduct,” he advised ThePrint, including that the Congress would compile an inventory of such “partisan bureaucrats” for obligatory motion to be taken “when there’s a change of presidency within the state”.
In his Twitter publish, Tankha additionally puzzled if chief secretary Bains, a 1985-batch IAS officer who has been given two extensions since he was attributable to retire final November — the final one having are available Might — would have the need to behave towards the 2 civil servants.
“The chief secretary of MP is predicted to take motion towards such officers. However will CS do that? He has been given a second extension after retirement,” he wrote. “The eight crore individuals of Madhya Pradesh anticipate impartiality from officers and those who do politics will see their stars dim.”
ThePrint reached Bains for remark by way of phone and textual content message. This report can be up to date if and when he responds.
However a senior Madhya Pradesh authorities official who didn’t need to be named pointed to 2 circulars issued by the Basic Administration Division, each pertaining to occasions organised by the RSS.
Basic Administration is the nodal division for larger civil providers.
In keeping with the official, the primary round, issued in 2003, stated that “any civil servant taking part in any occasion of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or any such organisation can be seen as violating the code of conduct underneath underneath part 5 (1) of MP Civil Service Act, 1965”.
“The letter additional acknowledged disciplinary motion can be taken towards civil servants taking part in occasions of RSS and as soon as the accusations towards them are established, they may also be faraway from the service,” the official stated. “The letter additionally acknowledged that if such occasions are going down in authorities buildings or authorities premises, obligatory steps needs to be taken to cease them.”
However a second round issued in August 2006 stated this restriction wouldn’t be relevant to occasions being held by the RSS.
In the meantime, MP Congress communications in-charge Ok.Ok. Mishra stated the occasion would register a criticism towards the 2 officers with the central Division of Personnel and Coaching (DoPT), underneath which they arrive.
That is an up to date model of the report
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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