Move underway to end IAS squabble; Additional Chief Secretary Jayathilak faces ire

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was for peevish reasons that the two IAS officers invited suspension charges in Kerala. Meanwhile, the official letter released on Tuesday has put Dr. A. Jayathilak IAS in a dock. With such a crisis, work has already started behind the curtains to mollify tensions and solve the whole issue.

Additional Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak’s report accusing former Unnathi CEO N Prasanth of hiding crucial files kickstarted came out on Tuesday.

These files were received by Gopalakrishnan, who took over as the CEO of Unnathi. When Prashant resigned, the file was handed over to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Minister Radhakrishnan's office. Jayathilak, who prepared the report and Gopalakrishnan knew this reality. So, it is a mystery why Jayathilak chose to accuse Prasanth in his report.

The prolongation of such complaints will do little good for the civil service community, if at all to the government and the administration. The government has also called for an immediate truce among officers. IAS association and chief secretary have reportedly intervened in the issue. The Chief Minister's office is also not interested in prolonging the issue.

Meanwhile, Gopalakrishnan, who created a WhatsApp group on the basis of religion, has been asked to give a detailed explanation of his conduct. Both the suspended officers will be issued notices seeking an explanation. After that, government action will be taken on the basis of the Chief Secretary's report. It is expected that the IAS association will strongly intervene to end the issue at the earliest.

After the suspension order, N. Prashanth has toned down his social media diatribe. The officer responded it was his first-ever suspension order and admitted that it was difficult for him to please all with his talks. The IAS association have advised Prasanth to end his provocative talks.