Thiruvananthapuram: A show-cause notice was recently issued to Kannan Gopinathan, who recently resigned from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), for taking part in the relief efforts during the floods in Kerala last year.
The Union Home Ministry had issued the notice in July, stating that the Malayali officer didn't submit reports of his visit to his home state during the floods last year.
The 2012 batch IAS ofcer, who was the power secretary of the Union Territory of both Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, quit his post last week reportedly owing to political pressure.
Sources hinted that the actions taken by the Administrator of the Union Territory, Praful Khoda Patel, targeting him had prompted Gopinathan to quit the service.
In his reply to the notice, Gopinathan had stated that it was decided not to file a report after holding discussions with the Administrator. The decision was arrived at as no further action on the flood-relief front was on the anvil.
Submitting records to validate his statements, Gopinathan made it clear in his reply that there was no basis for any allegations against him. In this regard, Gopinathan also said that he had come to Kerala during the floods and gave Rs 1 crore to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with the permission of the UT Administrator.
Gopinathan in his reply also said that he did not come to Kerala as part of his job but took part in the relief efforts as a responsible citizen.
He did not reveal that he was an IAS officer and selflessly worked along with other volunteers at the relief camps, winning accolades from all quarters.
In a chat with Onmanorama the other day, the 32-year-old bureaucrat, who hails from Kottayam, had said "I could come down to Kerala and serve my people during 2018 flood only because I could spare some time. All my efforts would have been in vain had it affected my professional commitments. "
Gopinathan was an IAS officer of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre of the 2012 IAS batch.
