Indian Administrative Officer resigns in protest against Modi’s policies

An Indian Administrative Officer (IAS) from Karnataka, S Sasikanth Senthil, in protest against Narendra Modi government’s policies has submitted his resignation from the service, Kashimr Media Service reported.

Senthil, the Dakshina Kannada district deputy commissioner, was on leave since last week. In a letter, Senthil said that it was unethical for him to continue as a civil servant in the government when the “fundamental building blocks of democracy are being compromised in an unprecedented manner”.

He was the in-charge when CCD founder and SM Krishna’s son-in-law VG Siddharth committed suicide.

“The people and the public representatives of DK (Dakshina Kannada) have been extremely kind to me and I owe an apology to them for discontinuing the job vested on me midway,” Senthil said in the letter.

Senthil also said he felt the coming days will present extremely difficult challenges to the basic fabric of the nation and that he will be better off outside the IAS to continue work at making life better for all. “It simply cannot be business as usual anymore,” he said.

Senthil, who belongs to Tamil Nadu, is a 2009 batch Indian Administrative Service officer. He was made deputy commissioner of Dakshina Kannada in 2017. He previously served as deputy commissioner in other parts of the state, including Raichur.

Last month, another IAS officer, Kannan Gopinathan, resigned from service because of curfew imposed in occupied Kashmir. Gopinathan held the post of secretary of power, urban development and agriculture departments in the Dadra and Nagar Haveli administration.

In January, IAS officer Shah Faesal from occupied Kashmir had resigned to protest the “unabated” killings in the occupied territory and the marginalisation of Indian Muslims.