Hyderabad: Telangana IAS officer and tribal welfare secretary A Sharath apparently trying to touch Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s feet during a public gathering has drawn flak from various quarters, including the scheduled tribe organisations in the state.
His act also prompted Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao to issue a memo to all Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) officers in the state to “henceforth refrain from indulging in acts and gestures which are unbecoming of a Member of the Service in public meetings and gatherings”.
Any member violating the above instructions is liable for disciplinary action, Rao said in the memo circulated Tuesday.
“This is a cautioning to all the officers,” Rao told ThePrint, even though he declined to comment on if Sharath could face some action.
Sharath, a 2005-batch IAS officer promoted from the state cadre, has extended such gestures to chief ministers in the past as well.
As Kamareddy district collector in June 2021, Sharath touched the feet of then chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. The incident took place when KCR inaugurated the new collectorate complex. Sharath apparently touched the CM’s feet twice after KCR entered the collector’s chamber to take a look and instate him in his chair.
Now posted as the secretary of the tribal welfare department, Sharath caught CM Reddy off guard at the inauguration of the Indira Soura Giri Jala Vikasam at the Macharam village of the Amrabad mandal in the Nagar Kurnool district Monday.
After presenting a memento of the scheme, which offers tribal farmers free solar-powered irrigation facilities for horticulture crops, to the CM, the IAS officer leaned apparently to touch Reddy’s feet as his deputy Bhatti Vikramarka and minister Jupally Krishna Rao looked on.
The CM moved to exit the dais, without acknowledging the gesture.
In video clips that have gone viral, Sharath, who hails from a ST community, apparently attempted to touch Bhatti’s feet next but the deputy CM prevented him with a hand gesture.
ThePrint reached Sharath for his response over the phone but the officer said he will talk later. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
Tribal organisations including those representing Banjaras censured Sharath’s act saying he has upset the community, lowering their self-respect.
Girijana Chaitanya Vedika president Raju Naik reportedly demanded Sharath’s resignation and apology to the Banjara people.
Also, there are past instances of Sharath attempting to please politicians with his words of profuse praise.
As Sangareddy district collector in September 2022, Sharath described KCR as “Abhinava Ambedkar” (modern-day Ambedkar). “I was not born when Dr B.R. Ambedkar wrote the Constitution, including provisions for the uplift of the downtrodden, underprivileged. I am now witness to our CM, inspired by Ambedkar, implementing various schemes, programmes for their welfare,” Sharath said at a government function, attended by public representatives, bureaucrats and police officers.
After Revanth took over, Sharath was put in charge of the tribal welfare department as its secretary in January 2024.
“In the first collectors’ conference too, as he introduced himself to the new CM, Sharath tried to extol him saying things like him becoming the CM is the state’s great fortune. Revanth cut him short, asking him to stick to the point,” a senior IAS officer told ThePrint. “I don’t know if he harbours some political ambitions.”
“After the Monday incident, the CM conveyed his displeasure to the CS, making it clear that he does not approve of such deeds which belittle the AIS, violate the code of conduct, and also put him in discomfort,” said the officer.
CM Revanth’s stand, the officer quoted above said, is in stark opposition to KCR’s “who blessed the IAS officers falling at his feet”.
On the same day as Sharath, on 20 June 2021, another collector Venkatarami Reddy, of Siddipet district, also touched KCR’s feet during the new collectorate complex opening there, sparking a statewide outrage.
Venkatarami Reddy, also a conferred IAS officer from the state cadre and accused of operating in BRS’ interests by the opposition parties, quit the service later that year to join the ruling party. Nominated by KCR, he was elected as an MLC under the MLA quota elections in November 2021.
Sharath and Venkatarami Reddy’s gestures attracted severe criticism on social media then. They were also censured by Congress leaders like Uttam Kumar Reddy and Ponnam Prabhakar, who are now ministers in the Revanth-led government.
At that time, Shabbir Ali, a senior Congress leader from Kamareddy, wrote to then president Ram Nath Kovind and demanded the centre take action against the two district collectors for touching CM KCR’s feet in full public view.
Ali, in his letter to Kovind, said Venkatrami Reddy and A Sharath have violated the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968.
Now, while the opposition BRS is largely silent on the matter, the state government has moved to put an end to “such disgraceful acts” by AIS officers.
“In recent times, several instances have come to the government notice where All India Services officers are indulging in acts and gestures unbecoming of a member of the service in public meetings and gatherings. Such acts and gestures in public reflect poorly on All India Services Officers and impact the image of the service, undermining the public’s faith in the individual’s ability to serve,” Chief Secretary Rao said in the memo.
Rule 3(1) of the AIS (Conduct) Rules, 1968, stipulates that every member of service shall at all times maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and shall do nothing which is unbecoming of a member.
“All India Services officers are expected to maintain a high-level of professionalism, integrity, and decorum, both in their official capacity and in public interactions to uphold the trust and confidence of the public they serve,” said the CS in the notice.
Speaking to ThePrint, Telangana BJP spokesperson Kishore Poreddy said such acts of “abject deference” towards those in power hurts the dignity of public servant’s office, erodes people’s faith in the officer’s ability to act impartially. “Such gestures also contribute to the public’s growing negative perception of the politician-bureaucrat nexus.”
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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