New Delhi: A 2012-batch IAS officer, Kannan Gopinath, from Kerala on Wednesday submitted his resignation to the Dadra and Nagar Haveli administration where he served as power and non-conventional energy secretary.
Gopinath was lauded for his work during the devastating floods in Kerala in 2018. He had actively participated in the relief and rescue operations during the floods and had also handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore to the CM disaster relief fund.
His resignation comes more than a month after he was served a memorandum by the Union Home Ministry accusing him of indulging in acts of omission and commission, insubordination and dereliction of duty among other things.
“I joined civil service with the hope that I can be the voice of those who have been silenced. But here, I lost my own voice,” he was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. “When the country is going through a turbulent time, when someone asks me what I did, I don’t want to say, ‘I took leave and went on to higher education in the US.’ It’s better to quit the job,” he further added.
He said he had been perturbed by “what is happening in the country, wherein a large section of our population have had their fundamental rights suspended.” He also expressed displeasure over the silence that followed former IAS officer Shah Faesal’s detention in Kashmir.
Gopinath, who completed his electrical engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology, said that he has no hope of ‘changing the system’. Having no savings, Gopinath said he doesn’t know what to do ahead as he will have to leave the government accommodation too.
While the social media seemed divided over Gopinath’s decision, former IAS officer Anil Swarup took to Twitter and said, "We are all proud of such officers. Kannan won accolades for his work. Why does he choose to resign from a service, the IAS, that offers so much scope to serve the people & derive enormous amount of satisfaction? He himself demonstrated what can be done."
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