Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha on Friday ordered an inquiry into the alleged misconduct of an IAS officer with a woman Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service officer, which has sparked outrage in the Union Territory and snowballed into an outsiders-versus-locals row.
The interaction, a video of which has surfaced on social media, took place during a recent Youth Upliftment and Vibrant Advancement (YUVA) meeting where skill development department secretary Kumar Rajeev Ranjan is seen hurling abuses
at Beenish Wani, assistant director of employment and counselling (Ganderbal).
Ranjan is heard spewing invectives after Wani accused him of not allowing her to explain her position on an issue. The angry officer appeared to justify raising his voice, used an offensive word and directed his subordinates to prepare her suspension order.
“...I can always talk to you like this,” he said, using an abusive word, to which she responded with “to hell with you”.
Ranjan’s office issued a statement on Thursday night that appeared to accuse Wani of misconduct. It stated that “provocative remarks and inappropriate language have no place in professional administrative engagements”.
The IAS officer’s outburst kicked up a political storm, with chief minister Omar Abdullah and several others seeking action against him.
The government’s general administration department on Friday appointed Mandeep Kaur, commissioner and secretary in the housing and urban development department, as the inquiry officer to probe Ranjan’s alleged misconduct within 15 days.
Pro-Jammu and Kashmir voices seized on the video to highlight what they described as the ill-treatment of local officers by their non-local colleagues against the backdrop of widespread allegations that Kashmiri officers were being sidelined from key administrative positions.
PDP leader Iltija Mufti said the LG was “quick to fire Kashmiri employees” and hoped he used the “same yardstick here”.
“How dare you (IAS officer) use such derogatory, demeaning language? Take your god complex & dirty slurs elsewhere. We won’t tolerate this in Kashmir,” she posted on X.
“Since 2019 KAS & competent Kashmiri IAS officers are deliberately being elbowed out. There is a concerted effort to undermine local officers both in administration & police, thereby making them subservient to outside officers lording over them,” she added.
AAP MLA Mehraj Malik said the behaviour of an “IAS officer from Bihar working in J&K with a JKAS officer from J&K (was) shameful”.
“This is what these dictators brought from outside J&K are doing with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in Jammu and Kashmir,” he posted on X.
Omar said prima facie, Ranjan’s conduct was not in keeping with the standards expected of a senior IAS officer. “I’ve instructed the chief secretary to ensure the JKAS officer faces no retributive action,” he said.
The National Commission for Women said it had taken suo motu cognisance of the video. NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar has written to the Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary, seeking verification of the video, an impartial inquiry and appropriate disciplinary and legal action.
Ranjan, a 2010 batch IAS officer, is facing a CBI probe for allegedly issuing army licences illegally to undeserving people in exchange for money.
