In less than a year, two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, Shah Faesal and Kannan Gopinathan, resigned from the elite service.
In 2009, Shah Faesal became the first Kashmiri to top in the Indian Civil Services Examination. On 9 January 2019, he resigned from the bureaucracy in protest, citing “unabated killings” in Kashmir among other things.
Now he is an independent politician. On 4 February 2019, in his hometown of Kupwara, Shah Faesal began his political life by giving a public speech. Later he announced that he would be launching his own political party, the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM).
Kannan Gopinathan (32) resigned in the second half of August. To be specific, he submitted his resignation to the Home Ministry on August 21.
He said that he did so as the denial of “freedom of expression” to the people of Jammu and Kashmir state was not acceptable to him.
“After taking the decision on Kashmir, nearly 20 days have passed and even now, the people there are not allowed to react or respond to it and that is not acceptable in a democratic set-up. Personally, I could not accept it and continue in the service during such a time,” news agency PTI quoted him as saying.
During the 2018 Kerala floods, Gopinathan had first come into limelight when he concealed his identity and joined in relief work.
Gopinathan’s this act raised his stature in the eyes of many.
The IAS is the administrative arm of the All India Services. It is considered as the premier civil service of India.
The IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian Forest Service (IFS). Members of these three services serve the Government of India (GOI) as well as the different states.
When two IAS officers resign within 12 months, it raises questions on the very health of the bureaucracy.
As they serve the Union Government, it must see that why talented bureaucrats are putting down their papers.
A healthy government needs a sound bureaucracy for the day to day work. So it must try to foster cordial relation.
And these officers must also remember the motto of their service “योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्” (Unity is Excellence at Work).
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About the author: Anurag Sason is journalist with more than 7 years of experience in mainstream journalism. He has worked in newspaper, news agency, TV and digital media. He tweets at @AnuragSason
Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are personal.
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