New Delhi: The allegations against IAS officer Tina Dabi of getting over a dozen students in Barmer detained for calling her a “reel star” have escalated into a debate of merit versus casteism in the civil services.
This came after Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Priyanka Chaturvedi hit out at Dabi, as well as IAS officers at large, for their “power drunkenness”.
“Just another day of a bureaucrat being intolerant in India. They continue to bypass harsh scrutiny despite their corruption, power-drunkenness, and now intolerance,” Chaturvedi posted on X, triggering a controversy on the platform.
The MP’s post, which has over 4,400 reposts, later came under heavy criticism by another section of X users who accused Chaturvedi of being “casteist”. They pointed out that Dabi, a 2015-batch IAS officer, herself hails from the Scheduled Castes (SC) category.
“When I pointed out the arrogance of bureaucrats, it was to do with their work culture and their inability to take on criticism, not the caste or community they come from?” Chaturvedi responded Wednesday morning. “Shameful that this particular bureaucrat’s fan club is reducing it to caste identity to troll me. Do better because your intolerance on X is proving my tweet right.”
The row erupted a day after students rallying against a recent fee hike at Rajasthan University accused Tina Dabi, the district magistrate of Barmer, of pushing for the administrative detentions of some students.
The detentions allegedly took place after one of them called the IAS a “reel star” during Saturday’s protest.
The administration denied having arrested anyone.
Dabi told ThePrint that the administration had only called the protesting students to the police station because they had been blocking roads and creating a public nuisance.
However, she insisted that they did not arrest anyone by any means.
“Now, it is a standard protocol that when someone creates a nuisance by blocking roads, etc., the administration takes them to the police station for sorting out the matter…There were no arrests that were made, whatsoever,” she said Monday.
However, the matter has refused to die down, with several people accusing Dabi and IAS officers of arrogance, entitlement, and high-handedness. Critics also attacked Dabi for “using reservations” despite hailing from a purportedly privileged background.
On the other hand, Dalit rights activists have termed the online trolling of Dabi a “casteist and sexist witch-hunt” by upper castes.
The protest that led to the controversy was spearheaded by students of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). “The arrest of students for expressing their views is deeply condemnable and strikes at the very core of democratic values,” the ABVP handle posted on X Monday.
‘Entitlement’, ‘arrogance’ of IAS officers
“The BJP government in Rajasthan is allowing IAS Tina Dabi to humiliate the citizens of India and the very same people who voted them [for the party],” posted political analyst Tehseen Poonawala Monday. “The Chief Minister must immediately ask his office step in & have her shunted after she apologises to We the People.”
“Side note: kick out 50% IAS,” he added.
An X handle by the name ‘The Skin Doctor’, which has 888.3K followers, shared a purported video of Barmer with garbage strewn all over potholed roads. “This is Barmer, whose DM is called a role model because of the amazing work she has done for the district,” the post said. “Itna kaam karne wale DM ko ‘reel star’ kahoge, toh phir arrest to hona chahiye (If you call a DM who works so much ‘reel star’, you should get arrested).”
Several people opined that Dabi’s was only the latest example of untrammelled power enjoyed by civil servants in India. “In India, IAS/IPS are more powerful than politicians—as simple as that,” a user posted. “You just can’t say anything against an IAS like Tina Dabi and get away with it.”
The ABVP handle had posted, “When police officials asked the protesting girls to speak to the collector, Tina Dabi, referring to her as a ‘real star’, ABVP students clearly responded that she is not their real star.”
Leadership is about service and sacrifice, not social media, the post had quoted the ABVP students as having said.
Dabi ‘using reservations’
Dozens of X users began to attack Dabi for her Dalit identity and “using reservations”, thereby allegedly depriving genuinely needy candidates a fair chance in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam.
Anuradha Tiwari, a popular handle on X, identifying as the founder of “Dharma Party of India”—“India’s first political front committed to Merit, Equality and Development”—attacked Dabi for using reservation. “Why people supporting Tina Dabi is beyond my understanding? Parents-IES (Indian Economic Service). Studied at posh Mount Carmel School. Sister is also IAS,” she wrote. “Both sisters used reservations, even after having all facilities. They literally took seats from underprivileged students. How do you justify this?”
In 2015, Dabi topped the UPSC Civil Services Examination with the All India Rank (AIR) 1 in the SC category.
‘Casteist onslaught’
Several Dalit rights activists and proponents jumped to Dabi’s defence, calling the criticism she routinely faces “casteist”.
“The bureaucrat has no fan club as such, but surely, selecting Dalit-woman IAS for your loud outrage against the Indian bureaucracy is less technical & more selective,” Subhajit Naskar, a political scientist at Jadavpur University, posted in response to Chaturvedi’s post. “It’s quite evident a tactic of English-speaking Upper caste Hindus [who] camouflage as kinda liberal.”
Another X user remarked that Chaturvedi’s “anti-Dalit targeting” of Dabi, who has won a national presidential award last month, would cost her party, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Bal Thackeray, dearly.
Tarun Jatav, who describes himself as a social activist and “Ambedkarite”, wrote in his post that the “Manuwadi lobby” is targeting Tina Dabi. “The Manuwadis are unable to see how a woman coming from a Dalit community can become such an excellent administrative officer,” Jatav said in an X post.
“Ever since Tina Dabi was honoured by President Draupadi Murmu ji, the Manuwadi lobby has been in a panic,” Jatav added. “We say that Tina Dabi is a role model; no one can match her in popularity; this IAS is many times more popular than many MPs, MLAs, and ministers.”
Last month, Dabi won a presidential award for an initiative in water conservation that earned Barmer the first-ever Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB) Award.
Dabi has been a hugely popular IAS officer since joining the service in 2016, but, at the same time, she has frequently earned brickbats for her “pre-occupation” with her celebrity-like status on social media.
However, describing social media as an “illusory world”, Dabi told ThePrint that it had been three years since she left being active on such platforms.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: ‘Being jaativaadi is need of the hour’: Another Madhya Pradesh IAS officer kicks up a storm
Calling out somebody for their alleged actions evoking counter response using identity shows that those who cry about caste bias are themselves least interested in coming out of the shadows of caste ! Heads I win, tails you lose !
We do object Tina Dabi way of of working.
But Article factually incorrect and castist because Dabi was UPSC topper not SC Topper
Also why are these idiots from the left fail to realize that this will only create hatred for a community which doesn’t really get targeted by any influencer in the online space.
Look at America. Those idiots try to use identity politics to justify some horrendous behavior and policies. Did it decrease hatred for minorities ? No, it increased it 10 folds, you idiots.
Why do you think there is anti Muslim sentiment in parts of this country. Appeasement and double standards which is getting exposed.
Tina Dabi is an elite who came from a privileged background. Priyanka on the other hand had always taken stance which an average politician has never taken. I noticed her when she criticized BCCI for playing Asia cup. Both BJP and Congress were in cahoots to play in Asia cup but she took a strong stance against it.
FFS don’t support these bureaucrats. They are not your friends. They are the real problem. All corruption which hampers the economy stems from these bureaucrats not politicians.
She is so privileged yet people are stuck to her Dalit identity ? Is she even from the SC community? Has she ever faced any discrimination ? From the looks of this IAS, I don’t think so.
Show her photo to an average person from SC community and none of them would identify with her. Now Dalit activists from the left have used this to silence any criticism done on IAS officers who might be from SC/ST. I would have not even known her caste if somebody had not mentioned it because I don’t give a damn about your identity.
I have been very clear that all these bureaucrats are POS and some of them have got the ability to use the caste card to silence the criticism against these elites.
Bring them down. All of these corrupt elites who silence criticism. Also did people forget that there was a IAS officer in Assam who literally registered an FIR because somebody commented “OK” on her post.
We have all been fooled by wasting our times on politicians who can be removed through elections but these unelected officials can’t. Most journalists just focus on politicians and their wrongdoing but 70% of the problems are created by these bureaucrats.
Has anyone started a mass protest against these people ? Never. Now you know who holds the power.