The Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district, S Sasikanth Senthil, has tendered his resignation from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) citing personal reasons. 

A letter by Senthil, which was posted on the official WhatsApp group of the Karnataka Information Department’s Dakshina Kannada office, said, “At this juncture, it is important for me to clarify that this decision is purely a personal one.”

However, his letter said, “I have taken this decision as I feel that it is unethical for me to continue as a civil servant in the government when the fundamental building blocks of our diverse democracy are being compromised in an unprecedented manner. I also feel that the coming days will present extremely difficult challenges to the basic fabric of our nation and that I would be better off outside the IAS to continue with my work at making life better for all. It simply cannot be business as usual any more.”

Senthil clarified that the resignation is in no way connected to anyone or any event in his current profile as the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district.

“I must mention that people and the public representatives of Dakshina Kannada district have been extremely kind to me and I owe an apology to them for discontinuing the job vested on me midway,” he added. 

The 40-year-old Senthil, who belongs to the 2009 IAS batch of Karnataka cadre, is a Bachelor of Engineering from the Bharatidasan University, Thiruchirapalli. 

He had served as Assistant Commissioner of Ballari and Chief Executive Officer of Shivamogga Zilla Panchayat. He was also the Deputy Commissioner of Chitradurga and Raichur during his tenure as an IAS officer. 

The sudden resignation of Senthil from the IAS evoked oud responses from various sections of society. Congress MLC Ivan D’Souza and party workers, staged a demonstration in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner in Mangaluru on Friday. The protesters held the BJP responsible for the resignation of Senthil. However, the BJP MLA from Mangaluru South, Vedavyasa Kamath, said the Congress is resorting to pity politics from the resignation. He said Senthil has already clarified that he is resigning from IAS due to personal reasons and that the resignation was in no way connected to anyone in his current profile.

Terming Senthil as an upright officer, Muneer Katipalla, president of the Karnataka unit of DYFI, said that he stood for the poor in spite of pressure during his tenure. The spate of resignations of upright officers is an alarming signal for the country, he said.

Jignesh Mevani, MLA from Gujarat’s Vadgam Assembly constituency, tweeted : “History will remember that some brave among us decided to stand up, when everyone were asked to crawl.”

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