IAS Officer Kannan Gopinathan Asked To Join Duty, Refuses

HYDERABAD: IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan on Thursday has refused to join the prestigious service after the government asked him to immediately join duty in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic on the ground that his resignation has not been accepted yet.

Kannan had resigned in protest as an IAS officer from Dadra and Nagar Haveli in August 2019 "over denial of freedom to the people of Jammu and Kashmir" following scrapping of Article 370 by the NDA government.

Attaching the government order, Kannan wrote on Twitter, "Received a letter from the govt, asking me to re-join duties as IAS. While I extend all my services, in health, wealth and mind to the govt in this fight against covid-19 pandemic, it will be as a free & responsible citizen and not anymore as an IAS officer. (sic)"

Kannan said that he will not be joining duty as an IAS officer but will volunteer to serve people.

"It has been almost 8 months now since my resignation. Only thing the Govt knows is harassment. Of people & of officers. I know that they want to harass me further. But still, I offer to volunteer for the govt in these difficult times. But not rejoining IAS," Kannan wrote on his Twitter post.

The letter sent to Gopinathan by the government on the direction of the Administration of Daman, Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli said, "A resignation becomes effective when it is accepted and a government servant is relieved of his duty."

"You were directed to continue to attend your assigned duties, but till date you have not reported for duties of this UT administration."

"Further, coronavirus has been declared as a pandemic and NDMA, under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, has directed all Ministries/Departments of Government of India, state governments and state authority to take measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Therefore, you are hereby directed to report for duty immediately," the letter read.

Kannan has been a vocal critic of the present government and has spoken vociferously againt the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register.

A week after his resignation, the government had asked him to join duty, a directive he ignored. This is the second time Gopinathan has been asked to join duty.

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