TN officials upset over IT head Santhosh Babu’s resignation

 According to Secretariat sources, the senior officer had decided to quit the service after a difference of opinion that broke out in connection with a high value tender project.

The officer had recently submitted his resignation letter to the chief secretary K Shanmugham and is to be relieved of from the official duty by April, informed sources said.

The officer had explained that he wants to relieve from the government service citing personalreasons.

Babu has served as the district collector of Krishnagiri and Sivaganga districts. To his credit, he had also served the as managing director of Electronics Corporation of India. The tech-savvy official during his stint as head of the departments has created and upgraded more than a dozen new websites creating the public interface between the government and the public.

“He is a good dynamic officer and this news is a rude shock to our fraternity,” said an IAS officer who has worked under the non-controversial bureaucrat. The political situation for the officers is not conducive in the state. Be it the hospitalisation of the late CM J Jayalalithaa or any goof-up by the politicos, the babus are at the receiving end. It may be noted that TN has lost good hands like Shivdas Meena and Vijay Pingale due to the political fallout, the official added.

However, the soft-spoken medical professional turned bureaucrat is yet to react. Efforts by DT Next to reach Santhosh Babu proved futile. The state officials also remained tight-lippedon the issue.

“Our party is aware of the controversial issue related to the top official. Soon our party high command will come out with a statement on the subject. We are collecting details in this regard,” said a senior DMK advocate wishing not to be named.

The Tamil Nadu cadre officer belongs to the 1995 batch and is an alumnus of the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram. He is also a Chevening Gurukul Scholar from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an LKY Fellow and MPM degree holder from the National University of Singapore and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.