Dalit IAS officer alleges bias, threatens suicide
IAS officer Ramesh Thete has had a running feud with additional chief secretary Radheyshyam Julniya in MP
Alleging his victimisation at the hands of the state government for being a dalit, an IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre said on Thursday that he was being provoked to commit suicide.
Ramesh Thete, an officer of the 1993 batch, who has a running feud with additional chief secretary, Radheyshyam Julniya over allocation of charges to him, indicated that he has left a letter in his office listing names of those who have been pushing him towards taking the extreme step. “The letter will be made public after my death. If the state government fails to meet my demands, then there will be a repetition of the Rohith Vemula incident,” he told reporters here.
Rohith Vemula, a PhD student at the University of Hyderabad, had committed suicide in January 2016 following his suspension. The suspension was seen as linked to the opposing views of the Ambedkar Students Association ( ASA) and the student organisation ABVP, part of the same political grouping as the BJP, which heads the government at the Centre. Rohith’s suicide, perceived as an instance of caste based politics at institutes of higher education, had sparked protests nationwide and become a major controversy.
Mr Thete’s threat to end his life “seeking justice” came in the wake of the state government serving a show- cause notice to him to explain why action should not be initiated against him for violation of service ( conduct) rules by leaking to media the letter he had written to chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan alleging caste bias by Mr Julniya against him.
Earlier, Mr Thete, currently posted as secretary, state rural and panchayat raj development department, had alleged that he was not given work on par with his predecessors because of his “low caste.”