IAS officer transferred, issued notice for commenting on Pt Deendayal Upadhyay

08 October, Raipur

Taking cognisance of a comment posted by Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Shiv Anant Tayal against Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder member Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on social networking site Facebook, the Chhattisgarh government has removed him from the post of the Kanker Chief Executive Officer and issued him a showcause notice.

Official sources said that the regime has attached Mr Tayal to the Mantralaya. In his Facebook post, he had stated that Pt Upadhyaya had made no significant contribution as an author or as an intellectual that could help one understand his ideology. He never even contested an election, the officer has said.

He mentioned that historian Ramchandra Guha discussed about several Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders in his book ‘Makers of India’ but it does contain information about Pt Upadhyaya. In the post, he urged people to share more information about Pt Upadhyaya.

When the matter came in media, Tayal removed his post and expressed regret in another post. However, the state government took serious note of the matter and initiated action against him.

Earlier, the regime had issued notice to another IAS officer Alex Paul Menon for posting comment with regards to the court on Facebook but the matter came to close following his reply.