After K Shivamurthy Naik abuse,' Kataria requests Karnataka CM for protection
Congress MLA allegedly threatened IAS officer for delaying permit renewal for his son.
Bengaluru: In yet another instance of alleged public shaming of a senior bureaucrat, Congress MLA, K Shivamurthy Naik is alleged to have abused IAS officer Mr Rajendra Kumar Kataria, Secretary, Commerce and Industries department, over the delay in renewing the permit of a granite mining company owned by his son. The MLA represents Mayakonda in Davangere.
Following the incident, the officer is said to have written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Chief Secretary Subhas Kuntia seeking protection, claiming his life was in danger.
Mr Siddaramaiah, however, told reporters on Wednesday that he had not received any such letter but had "seriously" warned his party MLA anyway. Mr Kataria has also reportedly complained to the Karnataka IAS Officers' Association about the MLA's conduct.
Said a senior IAS officer,"We are silently suffering at the hands of politicians. Some of us are targeted and transferred to insignifant posts by ministers and legislators. The situation in Karnataka is worse than that in Bihar. The officers' morale has hit rock bottom and many are planning to go on Central deputation to avoid ill-treatment by the netas."
The state BJP has, meanwhile, demanded the immediate suspension of the MLA from the party.
"It looks like that the Congress government is determined to convey a message to the bureaucrats - toe our line or face the music. Instead of tendering an unconditional apology, the MLA has justified his action," it regretted.
Mr Kataria's alleged humiliation is only the latest in a string of such instances over the last few years in the state. IAS officer, Harsh Gupta was transferred allegedly for deciding to lay off employees in the loss making Visvesvaraiah Iron and Steel Limited and was berated in full public view by the then Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Kimmane Ratnakar. And only a few weeks ago, IGP D Roopa was unceremoniously removed from the Department of Prisons after she threw light on the 5-star treatment being given to AIADMK leader Ms Sasikala, a close aide of the late former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa, at the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail in Bengaluru.
Mr Siddaramaiah has, however, claimed that these transfers were not a "punishment."