Srinagar/Jammu, Oct 16 Jammu and Kashmir BJP on Friday condemned senior IAS officer Kumar Rajeev Ranjan’s alleged use of abusive language towards a woman officer and said that bureaucrats must adopt the post-2019 work culture in the Union Territory and ensure transparency and accountability.
Ranjan courted controversy after he allegedly used abusive language against a female Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS) officer, Beenish Wani, during a review meeting on Wednesday and threatened to recommend her dismissal from service. A video of the exchange later surfaced on social media.
“Bharatiya Janata Party strongly condemns and opposes this. This behaviour is unacceptable. Using unparliamentary language against juniors is something we condemn and firmly denounce. The way the IAS officer spoke insolently to a JKAS officer and used unparliamentary words should never happen. We condemn it,” BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir spokesperson Altaf Thakur told reporters here.
“This is the new Jammu and Kashmir, transformed after 2019. In this transformed Jammu and Kashmir, you must adopt the post-2019 work culture. This is no longer the Jammu and Kashmir of strikes, where people made excuses claiming lack of staff or computers. The Government of India has provided all necessary facilities,” he said.
Thakur said the Centre is investing thousands of crores of rupees under various schemes, so that the youth of Jammu and Kashmir can stand on their own feet.
“Taking such crucial schemes so lightly will no longer be tolerated. Whether you are an IAS officer or a JKAS officer, everyone will be held answerable, and an account for every single penny must be provided,” he said.
The BJP spokesperson said government schemes are not being implemented on the ground “as effectively as they should be, which means the youth of Jammu and Kashmir are suffering”.
“You must change your work culture. Take this as a warning, advice, or whatever you wish. This is the new India, the new Jammu and Kashmir. In this new era, every officer must remain accountable and transparent; only then will Jammu and Kashmir move forward, securing the future of hundreds of youths tied to these schemes,” he added.
Senior BJP leader and former Jammu mayor Rajinder Sharma termed the alleged misbehaviour by the IAS officer a “curse on democracy”, calling for stern action against the official.
Sharma blamed the political leadership for “failing” to ensure that officials were held accountable and answerable.
“The incident is a major stain on our democracy. The way employees and ordinary members of the public are treated, and the manner in which the system functions, reflect the direction in which our democracy is heading,” Sharma told reporters here.
“If an IAS officer uses such language, what kind of language can one expect an ordinary person to use?” he asked.
Sharma alleged that the incident reflected a broader problem within the bureaucracy in Jammu and Kashmir, where some officials allegedly develop an arrogant attitude towards people, whom they perceive as simple and non-reactive, due to a lack of assertiveness in the political system.
He also questioned the chief minister’s response to the language used by the IAS officer.
“Does everything have to be done by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha? Has the chief minister’s responsibility ended by posting a tweet? Why can he not take his entire council of ministers to the lieutenant governor and convey that such an incident has occurred and that stern action must be taken?” Sharma asked.
He also suggested that the chief minister approach Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh, whose department deals with IAS officers, to ensure that the incident was not repeated and strict action was taken against the official.
(PTI News)
