Govt investigation would land IAS N Prasanth in serious trouble

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is learned that N Prasanth, Agriculture Department special secretary, and Unnati CEO P Gopalakrishnan will have tougher days ahead if the government move ahead with an investigation.

It all started with Additional Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak submitting a report alleging that N Prasanth failed to hand over a crucial file to his successor K Gopalakrishnan, who took over as CEO of Unnati. With the report going public on social media, Prasanth went on a diatribe spree. Prasanth says he handed over the files to the then Scheduled Castes Department Minister and blamed the additional chief secretary for concealing the truth. However, reports have found a fallacy in his claim.

Prasanth was removed from the post of Unnati CEO on March 16th. On April 29, Gopalakrishnan took charge as CEO of Unnati. A letter from the Additional Chief Secretary's office to Gopalakrishnan indicates that no file was handed over by Prasanth till May 13th. Gopalakrishnan complained in a letter to the superior officer on June 7 about not receiving documents including crucial information such as Unnati website credentials and general body meeting minutes.

Prasanth will be in a dock if the government moves ahead with an investigation. It would soon turn into a legal tangle for the IAS officer. At present, Prasanth is only facing misconduct charges for his insulting posts against superior officers on social media.

Prasanth, a 2007 IAS batch, previously worked in the office of Union Minister Alphonse Kannanthanam and then Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala. It is said that the young officer had an unceremonious exit from both the offices. Prasanth has 3 lakh followers on Facebook and half a lakh followers on Instagram. Amidst the squabble, the IAS association is strongly intervening to end the issue for good.