Mangaluru: IAS officer Senthil quits, blames Centre

Mangaluru: Two weeks after IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan quit on grounds of 'denial of freedom of expression,' Dakshina Kannada District Deputy Commissioner S Sasikanth Senthil resigned over the ‘fundamental building blocks of democracy being compromised in an unprecedented manner.’

The resignation became public on Friday afternoon and came as a shock. In a public letter  Senthil said he was resigning for personal reasons but later made it clear he was unhappy with the central government's policies.

"At this juncture, it is important for me to clarify that this decision is purely personal. It is in no way connected to anyone or any event in my current profile as deputy commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district. I must mention here that the people and public representatives of Dakshina Kannada have been extremely kind to me and I owe an apology to them for discontinuing the job  midway," he said.

"I have taken this decision as I feel it is unethical for me to continue as a civil servant when the fundamental building blocks of our diverse democracy are being compromised in an unprecedented manner. I also feel strongly that the coming days will present extremely difficult challenges to the basic fabric of our nation and that I would be better off outside the IAS to continue with my work at making life better for all. It simply cannot be business as usual anymore," he said.      

Close aides claim Senthil had often expressed differences with  government policies but had made it a point to maintain good ties with all BJP MLAs in his district and the  Yediyurappa-led government.

He is now on three days leave. Senthil is from Tamil Nadu and took charge on October 19, 2017, as deputy commissioner of Dakshina Kannada.

He had earlier served as assistant commissioner of Ballari district, CEO of Shivamogga Zilla Panchayat,  deputy commissioner of Chitradurga and Raichur districts, and functioned as director, mines and geology department.