A Civil servant is expected to maintain exemplary conduct in both personal and professional spheres, carefully considering the consequences of their actions to avoid jeopardizing their career and reputation.
IAS officer K. Gopalakrishnan experienced this firsthand when he was recently suspended by the Left administration in Kerala for disciplinary violations, according to sources cited by PTI. It is reported that IAS Gopalakrishnan formed a WhatsApp group of government officers based on religion. Based on the top officials’ findings, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan issued an order suspending the official. Additionally, IAS Prasanth, the Special Secretary of Agriculture, was suspended by the state government for his social media criticism of Additional Chief Secretary Dr. A Jayathilak, a senior IAS officer.
IAS Gopalakrishnan recently complained to the police about his phone being hacked, which led to the creation of several WhatsApp groups with religious names and him as the group administrator. ‘Mallu Muslim Officers’ and ‘Mallu Hindu Officers’ were the groups’ respective WhatsApp names.
IAS Gopalakrishnan is a Kerala cadre officer from the 2013 batch. Prior to his suspension, he was Kerala’s director of industries and commerce. He has previously served as the Director of the Department of Scheduled Caste Development. He previously held the position of district collector for Thiruvananthapuram.
IAS Gopalakrishnan is from Tamil Nadu’s Nammakkal. According to a 2019 TOI story, he has a B.Tech in mechanical engineering and completed post-graduation coursework in financial management. The couple has two kids together, and his wife Deepa stays at home. Gopalakrishnan has served as assistant collector in Malappuram, sub-collector Kozhikode, CEO Jalanidhi and land revenue records director. Additionally, he has held the position of assistant secretary in the Union government’s communications and information technology division.
On October 31, a number of IAS officers from the Kerala cadre were unintentionally joined to a new WhatsApp group, sparking the issue. Only Hindu officers were in the group, which immediately sparked criticism. Many officers believed that the group violated the secular norms that public servants are supposed to respect. However, the next day the group was removed.
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