IAS Association writes to CM against Mani’s remarks

Thiruvananthapuram: The IAS Association has taken a strong exception to Udumbanchola MLA and veteran CPM leader M M Mani using abusive and derogatory remarks against Devikulam sub-collector Rahul Krishna Sharma, during a protest march against the cancellation of the illegal pattayams in Devikulam taluk in Idukki.
In a letter addressed to the chief minister seeking his intervention to tame Mani’s language, the association said that the IAS officers are also open to criticism, but it should be in a dignified manner. “The officers of the IAS, irrespective of where they come from, work tirelessly for the progress of the state and its people in line with its ethos and values. In this context, the remarks made by such a senior public functionary is highly unfortunate. We accept that IAS officers, like all professionals, are open to criticism but that criticism could be dignified and with essential courtesy of language and custom,” the letter said.
The letter said that the remarks have adversely affected the morale of officers across the state and requested the chief minister to take up this issue with Mani to retract the statement and also avoid such language in the future.
The CPM had organised a protest march on Tuesday after the district administration had found that the pattayam of the CPM office in Munnar was one among the illegal pattayams issued by former deputy tahasildar M I Raveendran (Raveendran pattayam) in 1999. The pattayam was issued in the name of M M Mani, in violation of the Kerala land assignment rules, 1964.
During the protest, Mani addressed the sub-collector as a “rogue” and “a person who came from Uttar Pradesh where the officials, including the collectors and sub-collectors, support anti-socials raping and killing socially backward girls”.
It is not the first time that IAS officers, especially those serving as sub-collectors in Devikulam, are facing verbal abuse from CPM leaders.
In February 2019, the then Devikulam MLA, S Rajendran, had made a verbal attack against the then sub-collector Renu Raj for stopping illegal construction there. Her predecessor V R Premkumar also had faced similar harassment when he acted against illegal land holdings and constructions in the region.
Though the IAS Association had protest against the earlier incidents too, the government had not done anything to address their grievances.