file picture of IAS officers Shilpa Nag and Rohini Sindhuri during one of the review meeting in Mysuru.
Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner Shilpa Nag announces resignation, says she is being ‘targeted’; Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri refutes allegation
Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar to go to Mysuru tomorrow, presumably to mediate between Sindhuri and Nag
BENGALURU:
Coming on the heels of accusations and counter-accusations between some politicos and Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri, the 2009-batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer faces controversy again – this time involving another lady IAS officer. Her junior in the service, 2014-batch IAS officer Shilpa Nag, announced her resignation on Thursday, claiming that she was being ‘targeted’.
While her resignation has not been accepted, Karnataka Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar, who heads the state’s bureaucracy, will be visiting Mysuru on Friday, apparently to mediate between the two officers, although officially his visit is to review the Covid-19 situation in the district.
Shilpa’s falling out with her senior colleague comes less than four months (107 days, to be exact) after she took over as Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner on February 16 this year. (Shilpa was earlier posted as Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner on February 17, 2019. In August 2019, she took a year’s sabbatical to take care of her child. Though she had applied for a two-year leave, only one year’s leave was sanctioned.)
At a presser on Thursday, she expressed her ‘unhappiness’ over the prevailing situation, and said, “I have felt very bad when I am personally getting targeted. If she (Rohini Sindhuri) really has some grudge, then let her do whatever she wants. I don’t want Mysuru citizens to suffer. I cannot work in such an atmosphere where I feel I am being targeted. I am sending my resignation to the Chief Secretary.”
Questioned on Thursday on the friction between the two officers, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said “there is nothing major and all issues will be sorted out.”
Minister’s tilt?
Meanwhile, reacting to Shilpa Nag’s resignation, Mysuru district in-charge Minister ST Somashekhar said, “The state government will not accept Shilpa’s resignation as she is working hard to control Covid. I have spoken over the phone with Shilpa and convinced her to continue with her work. Tomorrow (Friday), I am also visiting Mysuru and all issues will be sorted out. The Chief Minister has been updated about the development.”
Also Read: Is Mysuru DC Rohini Sindhuri being targeted by disgruntled politicos? https://thebengalurulive.com/is-mysuru-dc-rohini-sindhuri-being-targeted-by-disgruntled-politicos/
Sindhuri stresses her overall responsibility
Reacting to Shilpa’s presser, Mysuru DC Rohini Sindhuri said, “I don’t know why she addressed the media. If at all there was any issue, she should have spoken with me directly. As Deputy Commissioner, I wrote two letters to her to open two Covid Care Centres in Mysuru town. This apart, I have not said anything to her. I have the responsibility for the entire district in the capacity of DC.”
Later in the evening, Rohini issued a one-page press release in which she refuted the allegations made by Shilpa. “It is untrue that there was any harassment from me and none has been mentioned even in the statement issued by Shilpa Nag,” she said. “The undersigned, being Deputy Commissioner and in the middle of handling the Covid-19 pandemic, has a duty to manage and control Covid-19, and all my focus and actions have been to discharge the said responsibility alone,” she added.
As per Rohini Sindhuri, Shilpa Nag had of late stopped attending Covid-19 reviews. “The Mysuru City Corporation was submitting unsigned and contradictory wardwise Covid-19 figures on new cases, deaths and active cases. I had ordered that the same be rectified. Further, I had ordered that government Covid Care Centres be opened in Mysuru city which had failed to open a single CCC until recently (taluks and rural areas have opened 18 CCCs in the last 20 days). In the circumstances, I have personally gone and opened 3 CCCs in the city recently. None of this constitutes harassment by any stretch of imagination,” Rohini’s note said.
Shilpa was made CSR funds in-charge
Rohini’s press note further said, “Shilpa was made in-charge of CSR (funds) coming from private industries, factories and IT companies for the whole district. It was later informed to me that almost the whole of it she spent within Mysuru city. So I had asked for a full and proper account of it on 1st June 2021. No reply has been received until now. Further, her action to give almost nothing to taluks and rural areas is unfair and wrong. The accounts of spending of the CSR (funds) by Shilpa are still awaited.”
The Mysuru DC’s note further said, “It is for everyone to note that over the last ten days, Shilpa has been issuing statements to the press and media against the district administration. A conduct not expected from a Mysuru City Commissioner. The generalised accusations are false and contrary to the real facts as given above.”
Who is Shilpa Nag
2014-batch IAS officer Shilpa Nag has her roots in Hassan district. Born to Naganna and Padmavathi on March 10, 1984 in Bengaluru, Shilpa has a degree in Journalism, English and Psychology. She did her MBA from Christ College, and her post-graduation from Bangalore University. After passing UPSC, she served as Assistant Commissioner of Kundapur, CEO of Haveri Zilla Panchayat and Director of Abdul Nazeer Sab State Institute of Rural Development, Mysuru. She has also worked in the revenue and excise departments.
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