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Bhubaneswar: Odisha IAS Officers Association on Tuesday condemned the recent incident where Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan allegedly 'targeted' State IT Department secretary, Ashok Meena during an event in Bhubaneswar.
A delegation of the IAS association today brought the matter to the notice of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and submitted a memorandum regarding the same.
The IAS body alleged that Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan in his speech during the inaugural ceremony of NIC's Data Centre in Bhubaneswar had targeted IT Secretary, Ashok Meena yesterday.
Strongly condemning such incident, the IAS association in its memorandum stated "Recent episodes in Odisha and other parts of the country wherein officers, while discharging their professional duties, have been personally attacked by senior members of political executive are a direct attempt to defy the constitutional values."
Secretary of Odisha IAS Officers Association, Vishal Dev said "In a democratic polity, division of power between political and permanent executives is the bedrock of administrative framework. It is highly important that there is mutual respect between the two organs. So far, this has been functioning smoothly for the past few years. However, there have been some instances in the past where some officers have been targeted."
"Yesterday, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan targeted a senior IAS officer by taking his name personally thrice during the inauguration of the NIC Data Centre which is totally uncalled for as it has a demoralising effect," said Dev.
Dev further said that the Association has lodged a strong protest before the CM in connection with the incident.
President of OAS Association, Saroj Samal also condemned such act citing that it is against the constitutional values.
"Be it a Minister of the State government or a Union Minister, no one has the right to defame anybody in public view by making personal references," said Samal.
