Another IAS officer quits

Bengaluru: Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district S Sasikanth Senthil on Friday resigned from the Indian Administrative Service.

In his resignation letter, he said his decision was a personal one and was in no way connected to anyone or any event in his current profile as deputy commissioner.

The bureaucrat said it was "unethical" on his part to continue as civil servant when "fundamental building blocks of diverse democracy are being compromised".

"I also strongly feel that the coming days will present extremely difficult challenges to the basic fabric of our nation and that I would be better off outside the IAS to continue with my work at making life better for all," Senthil said in the letter.

Senthil said it simply cannot be business as usual any longer.

The 40-year-old is a 2009 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Karnataka cadre. He was a Tamil Nadu topper in the Union Public Service Commission exams and secured the ninth spot at an all-India level.

He passed out of BE (Electronics) course in first division from the Regional Engineering College of Bharathidasan University in Tiruchirapalli.

Last month, IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan had resigned from service because of the restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir. However, he had been asked to resume duty until his resignation was accepted.

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said the resignation was an "indicator of the way India is moving".

"Democratic values are in danger and things are not happening according to the constitutional provisions," Kharge was quoted as saying by the news agency.