Bengaluru For at least three years now, Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer Rohini Sindhuri has battled several allegations against her – both personal and professional – by her colleagues and political leaders. On Thursday, another IAS officer, Shilpa Nag, the incumbent Mysuru city commissioner, resigned from the services, citing “harassment” and “humiliation” by Sindhuri at a press conference.
The offer to resign, which is yet to be taken forward through official channels by Nag, has opened the floodgates of brickbats against Sindhuri, a 2009-batch officer.
Nag’s allegations, also mentioned in her handwritten resignation letter, include charges like “personal vendetta” and “ego” against Sindhuri, who has also reacted in an official release on Thursday.
Hindustan Times has viewed a copy of both the resignation letter as well as Sindhuri’s reaction.
“There is a process, a forum in which the chief secretary, a regional secretary is there. Everyone should follow the process,” Sindhuri told Kannada TV news channels on Friday. In a statement on Thursday, Sindhuri said she had only sought details of Covid-19 related documents, including expenditure of CSR funds during Covid, from Nag, which did not constitute to harassment.
“It is not my place to keep on reacting to every allegation,” Sindhuri said on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}“It is not my place to keep on reacting to every allegation,” Sindhuri said on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}People aware of the developments said Sindhuri had impeded an attempt to usurp around 1,500 acres of land near a lakebed, which had upset some politicians.
People cited above said Sindhuri was being targeted for not “obeying” politicians and their demands for awarding contract of works to persons related to them as well as denying an opportunity to usurp government land for various projects.
She had also probed a possible model code of conduct violations against A Manju, then with the Congress in Hassan district, during the assembly elections in 2018. She was at the receiving end of sharp barbs by elected representatives when she had allegedly denied awarding a scaffolding contract to a person related to Manju just before the Mahamastakabhisheka of Gomateshwara, an elaborate Jain festival ritual held every 12 years in Hassan district.
Soon after, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government transferred her citing flimsy grounds of her breaching protocol. Sindhuri took the legal route and was reinstated.
Her being appointed as deputy collector of Mysuru, the second largest city in Karnataka, about 125 km from Bengaluru, was opposed by Janata Dal (Secular) leader Sa Ra Mahesh. At a press conference called on May 2 by the JD(S) leader, he took personal jibes at Sindhuri, stating that the district required “role model officers” and not “models”.
Politicians from all three political parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the JD(S) – have targeted Sindhuri in the recent past.
The developments are not helping chief minister BS Yediyurappa, who is also at battle with dissidents from within his own party and fighting all attempts by the BJP central leadership to replace him.
Sindhuri was also accused of ignoring desperate calls for help by her colleague from Chamarajanagar, where 24 Covid-19 patients died allegedly due to shortage of oxygen. However, a report after a probe into the incident indicated that there was no clear hindrance on the Mysuru DC for supply of oxygen to Chamarajanagara district.
On Friday, Nag said her decision to resign was not in haste but well thought off.
“Politicians, especially those who take up positions in the government, are expected to be neutral. But this rarely happens. The IAS officers on the other hand are neutral,” said a former IAS officer, who resigned from services in Karnataka two years ago citing personal reasons.
He said officers are often targeted by politicians by planting fake news, spreading misinformation and organising protests for alleged corruption or irregularities.
The officer cited above has known and worked with both Nag and Sindhuri in the past.
He said Nag looked exhausted in her press conference.
“Covid has extracted a lot from officials,” he said, adding that these officers have been working tirelessly for over a year now despite the threat the virus poses to their own families.
He said such “skirmishes” were common between officials but rarely does an official do what Nag did.
Karnataka chief secretary is scheduled to meet both officials on Friday.