Administration's root rot
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The higher-ups in Kerala's bureaucracy are sinking into new abysses of decay. Agriculture Department Special Secretary N Prasanth's Facebook posts against Additional Chief Secretary Dr A Jayathilak are the latest examples of the degradation of bureaucracy and incompetence of political leadership. For quite some time now, malfeasance to the extent of crimes has been going on repeatedly and unpunished by the state leadership in the IAS and IPS ranks. Prasanth was angered when his superior officer Jayathilak gave a report about the misconduct on his part, when he was the CEO of 'Unnati', which was formed for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and it became news. The social media posts he posted, along with pictures calling Jayathilak mentally ill and insulting him in other ways, violate not only the civil service code of conduct but also decency in the public sphere. It is noted that in his previous actions there were instances of his conduct unbecoming of his position. The Additional Private Secretary of the former Finance Minister alleges that while he was the Collector of Kozhikode, Prasanth bought a car by diverting funds and threatened the Additional Secretary, who prepared a report on the same. Former minister Mercykutty Amma also says that N Prasant was behind the corruption allegations levelled against her over the deep sea fishing deal. When his lapses in word and deed come into public discussion, it must be seen that this is not an isolated lapse. It goes without saying that one of the reasons for this is that those who need to take action turn a blind eye at the time.
In the August 2019 drunken driving accident in which Sriram Venkataraman IAS killed journalist KM Basheer, the state noticed that the investigation was delayed to erase the evidence of alcoholism. The allegations against ADGP Ajithkumar show how corrupt the police echelons are. The allegation related to the death of ADM against Kannur Collector Arun K Vijayan is under investigation. Industry Director K. Gopalakrishnan created a WhatsApp group of officials on the basis of religion, which also happened in Kerala. The state was stunned when it heard the information about the 'Mallu Hindu Officers' Group'. Gopalakrishnan denied the crime and complained that his phone was hacked. As proof of this, another 'Mallu Muslim Officers Group' was formed on that phone. In any case, in subsequent tests, the social media companies and the police have found that the phone was not hacked. The investigation continues; many warn about the point at which the action will be overturned, pointing to past experience. The state has recently seen a top police officer of the state hold secret meetings with RSS leaders, and the incident was expunged from public discussion under a government that knew about it and did not act.
From driving under the influence of alcohol to working for communal polarization among the people, forming a communal group among the IAS and filing a false case to escape when caught, the Facebook abuses posted by N Prasant, pretending to be a 'whistleblower', are small. The incident of two IAS and IPS women insulting each other in Karnataka has reached the Supreme Court. But the malady afflicting India's highest bureaucratic chain is even greater. The Chief Secretary has asked for an explanation about Prasant's insulting posts. Internal mechanisms are in place to settle disagreements before they are aired through the media. There is a code of conduct for senior civil servants. Apart from all this, as the backbone of the administration, they have values and ethics to follow. However, when all the manifestations of debasement that afflict the political leadership affect the civil service, those who should be mutual corrective forces become complicit in the decay. Corruption and communalism continue to challenge the people. The problem is not that there are no mechanisms in place to detect wrongdoing and to identify and punish those responsible. It is that they are not functional; the government has not shown a willingness to act. The government stands by as a mere spectator while the standards and excellence ascribed to the IAS, IPS, etc., are eroded by those within it, and illegal and criminal acts with impunity are continuously in the news. In other words, the heart of the problem is not a Prasanth or two Facebook posts.
