Kerala IAS officer N Prashanth, generally known as ‘Collector Bro,’ and Okay Gopalakrishnan had been lately suspended on disciplinary grounds. The Kerala authorities has ordered the suspension of Gopalakrishnan confronted suspension for establishing a religion-based WhatsApp group for presidency officers, whereas Prashant was penalized for publicly criticizing a senior IAS officer on social media.
Prashanth, who has over three lakh followers on Fb and 50,000 on Instagram, has beforehand stirred reactions amongst politicians as a result of his social media presence. Regardless of the scrutiny, he has maintained that social media is an efficient platform for participating with the general public.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ordered their suspension primarily based on the intel he acquired from the Chief Secretary. The federal government’s suspension orders on Monday night time cited each officers’ actions as critical indiscipline and violations of the All India Service Conduct Guidelines, 1968.
Gopalakrishnan, serving because the Director of Industries and Commerce, and Prasanth, the Particular Secretary within the Division of Agriculture Improvement and Farmers’ Welfare, had been each suspended lately.
Prasanth accused Extra Chief Secretary A Jayathilak on Fb of “orchestrating baseless” media stories in opposition to him, claiming Jayathilak had was a “particular reporter” working to discredit him. Often known as ‘Collector Bro’ from his time as Kozhikode District Collector, Prasanth has beforehand used Fb to counter allegations made in opposition to him.
Gopalakrishnan, in the meantime, was investigated by Kerala police after he reported that his WhatsApp account had been used to create religion-based teams with out his consent.
Thiruvananthapuram metropolis police investigated and submitted a report back to the state police chief.
Regardless of stories suggesting the IAS officer’s telephone was not hacked, Thiruvananthapuram Metropolis Police Commissioner Sparjan Kumar clarified that it’s nonetheless unsure, because the system had been “reset.”
The disputed WhatsApp group, labeled as a Hindu group group, included officers from numerous communities.