Thiruvananthapuram: A senior scientist at the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) has criticised Transport Minister KB Ganesh Kumar for verbally abusing officials during a meeting about the cancellation of the Motor Vehicle Department's decision to mandate child seats in cars.
Subin Babu, Senior Scientist of the Highway Engineering Division at NATPAC, condemned the minister’s behaviour in a Facebook post.
In his post, Subin stated that the minister insulted officials, who had presented the matter in a way that 'even a child could understand, for his political gain and ego'. He further claimed that those in power, lacking basic knowledge on the subject, publicly humiliated experts for their own political advantage.
Following the controversy, the NATPAC official deleted the post and issued an apology. NATPAC is a planning and research institution under the State Council for Science, Technology, and Environment.
Key excerpts from Subin Babu's now-deleted post:
“Honorable Sir, please understand. The reason no one retaliated or asked you, ‘Are you a fool?’ was due to fear of reprisal. It’s widely known that you're seen as a person with a shallow personality. Those who boast of arrogance should remember that even a non-venomous water snake will fight back when push comes to shove. Not everyone will tolerate someone insulting the institution that sustains them. Many work sincerely here.
"I still haven’t gotten over the discomfort of watching those with authoritative knowledge on the matter being ridiculed with a smirk. That wasn’t right, sir. None of us are without self-respect. The officials tolerated your insults out of respect for the office you hold. The Transport Commissioner, who did something commendable, was mocked. Malayalis were happy about it. The attitude here is, 'I control everything, and I will block every event that doesn’t receive media coverage.' Yesterday’s order was turned into waste paper overnight. It seems the new Transport Commissioner isn’t familiar with the Minister. How could he issue a circular without the minister’s knowledge?!
"Child restraint systems are essential, but more time is needed for their implementation... That’s what I saw in Commissioner Nagaraju Sir’s circular. If someone can afford a car, one can spend an additional Rs 3,000 to transport a child safely,” the post read.