IAS officers object, Minister makes U-turn on Health Secretary

“IAS officers are like the heart for a government. We have high regard for the Health Secretary and the comments were not intended to damage him,” the Fisheries Minister told reporters here.

The response from the Minister comes in the wake of state IAS fraternity crying foul against two senior Ministers CVe Shanmugam and Jayakumar for dragging the name of Health Secretary into the controversies related to the demise of AIADMK leader on December 5, 2016, at Apollo Hospitals.  

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu IAS officer Association on Friday called on Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami at the Secretariat and a served a copy of the resolution adopted by the IAS Officers’ Association. 

“IAS officers serving the government are permanent civil servants and are bound by the All India Service Conduct rules. They are not permitted to give public statements. The levelling of accusations by a cabinet minister against a serving civil servant, who has no right to reply in public, is grossly unfair and contrary to the norms of good conduct in government,” the resolution read.

Such public criticism of serving officers by cabinet ministers will not only demoralise the civil service but also prevent it from properly discharging its duties in public interest. 

The copy also urged the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter and ensure that such statements are not made against serving civil servants and that decorum is maintained, the resolution urged.  

Chennai: State Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan appeared before the Arumughasamy Commission investigating the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday. Talking to reporters about the deposition, Advocate Raja Senthoor Pandian said that the Health Secretary had indicated that the experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) treating the former chief minister had indicated that there was no need for an angioplasty for Jayalalithaa. He added that Dr Radhakrishnan told the panel that since the AIADMK Ministers were aware of the medical reports of the then CM, he hadn’t filed a statement regarding the same. Meanwhile, the ruling AIADMK has started clearing the pending bills to Apollo Hospitals. Besides the party has now started clearing pending bills to an extent of Rs 6 crore, sources said. It may be noted that the hospital food bill to a cost of Rs 1.17 crore created a controversy.