A senior Indian Administrative Service officer has sparked a controversy after a video of him abusing a junior woman officer and threatening to recommend her suspension went viral on social media.
The incident took place over a virtual review meeting on Mission YUVA, wherein a heated argument ensued between Jammu &Kashmir IAS officer Rajeev Ranjan and Beenish Wani, a 2015-batch JKAS officer, over the role of National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). Wani is assistant director of employment and counselling centre, Ganderbal, while Ranjan is currently posted as administrative secretary, labour and employment in J&K.
During the meeting, Ranjan, a 2010 batch IAS officer, was heard calling Wani “stupid”, while also using abusive words like “bl***y sh*t”.
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What happened during the review meeting?
A video of the review meeting shows Ranjan allegedly interrupting Wani when she was briefing the meeting about the targets achieved by her office, according to a news agency PTI report.
While Wani, who was attending the meeting via video conferencing, was trying to explain that NRLM was used as a helping agency to achieve targets, Ranjan was heard saying, “Why do you need NRLM? If NRLM had to do this work, why would I give it to AD (assistant director)?” He continued further, saying, “If someone else had to do the work, do you just have to write the letter? And you want a medal for it?”
When Wani tried to reply, saying NRLM would “need to help us”, Ranjan was heard telling her to “shut up," and asking her whether she would sit silently or not. “Sir let me speak. You're not letting me explain myself,” Wani was heard telling the IAS officer.
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As the argument unfolded, Ranjan called the woman officer “bl***y sh*t”. “I can always talk like that. I am your boss, stupid,” he said. When the female officer objected to Ranjan's language and said he could not call her “sh*t”, he asked another woman officer to type out her suspension order. He further yelled at Wani, telling her to “get out.” Wani said they can suspend her, while adding, “To h*ll with you.”
“Record this and immediately suspend, and write to the GD how she should be thrown out of this service. Record this now, the suspension must go now,” Ranjan was then heard telling the other woman officer.
JKAS demands inquiry into incident, says no retaliatory action must be taken against junior officer
Following the incident, the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) fraternity called for an impartial inquiry into the incident, and urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Atal Dullo, and the General Administration Department to ensure that no retaliatory action is taken against Wani.
The fraternity said that while it upholds administrative accountability, it maintains that no supervising authority can use abusive language and intimidation. The fraternity further alleged that the senior officer had a pattern of using “unparliamentary and demeaning language” in official capacity. They said that the department's attempt to dismiss the circulating video as AI-generated was “more disturbing.”
“The video is authentic, as testified by the officer herself and other officials who were present during the virtual meeting,” the JKAS fraternity asserted.