On Thursday, the Assistant Commissioner of Madurai Corporation was relieved of duty for ordering to repair roads and streets lights, as well as keeping the road clean during the RSS Chief Mohan Bhagavat visit to Madurai.
Hours after a circular sent by the Zonal Assistant Commissioner of Madurai Corporation, S Shanmugam, asking staff to maintain RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s scheduled routes clean appeared on social media, he was shunted out.
As per a circular released by Shanmugam on July 20, the RSS chief was slated to attend events at the Saibaba temple in Zone 4’s Sathya Sai Nagar between July 22 and 26. All zonal officials were asked by Shanmugam to repair street lights and damaged roads along the RSS chief’s route from the airport. During the planned time, he also ordered that all other civic activity, including road renovation, be halted across the four zones.
The internal communication circular went viral after Madurai MP Su Venkatesan demanded an explanation from the Madurai Corporation and the district administration on Twitter. He asked as to which government rule such an order had been issued.
அரசின் எந்த விதிகளின் படி மதுரை மாநகராட்சியின் உதவி ஆணையாளர் இந்த சுற்றரிக்கையை வெளியிட்டுள்ளார் என்பதை மதுரை மாவட்ட நிர்வாகம் உடனடியாக விளக்க வேண்டும். @Collectormdu @city_madurai pic.twitter.com/B7uwv6Tibr
— Su Venkatesan MP (@SuVe4Madurai) July 21, 2021
Manickam Tagore, a Member of Parliament from Virudhunagar, also criticized the civic body for foisting a red carpet welcome on an RSS leader at taxpayer money. Several leftist and Dravidian organizations have also requested that the official be punished immediately.
RSS தலைவருக்கு வரவேற்பு மதுரையில் அரசு செலவில். மதுரைக்கு வந்த சோதனை. நடவடிக்கை தேவை மதவாதிக்கு உதவும் அதிகாரிகள் மீது. செய்வாரா அண்ணன் @KN_NEHRU ? pic.twitter.com/sZK2ZdvfdH
— Manickam Tagore .B🇮🇳✋மாணிக்கம் தாகூர்.ப (@manickamtagore) July 21, 2021
Corporation Commissioner KP Karthikeyan clarified that as part of the Z Plus protectee protocol, only routine arrangements were made and no extra maintenance work was done. The Corporation Chief released a statement hours after the circular went viral, ordering the Assistant Commissioner to be relieved of duty. “The assistant commissioner has been asked to explain why he issued a circular without the consent of senior officials,” he said.
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