Kerala's 'Collector Bro' And Fellow IAS Officer Suspended Over ‘Indiscipline’

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Kerala IAS officer N Prashanth, known as 'Collector Bro,' and K Gopalakrishnan were recently suspended on disciplinary grounds. The Kerala government has ordered the suspension of Gopalakrishnan faced suspension for establishing a religion-based WhatsApp group for government officials, while Prashant was penalized for publicly criticizing a senior IAS officer on social media. 

Prashanth, who has over 3 lakh followers on Facebook and 50,000 on Instagram, has previously stirred reactions among politicians due to his social media presence. Despite the scrutiny, he has maintained that social media is an effective platform for engaging with the public. 

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ordered their suspension based on the intel he received from the Chief Secretary. The government’s suspension orders on Monday night cited both officers’ actions as serious indiscipline and violations of the All India Service Conduct Rules, 1968. 

Gopalakrishnan, serving as the Director of Industries and Commerce, and Prasanth, the Special Secretary in the Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers' Welfare, were both suspended recently. 

Prasanth accused Additional Chief Secretary A Jayathilak on Facebook of “orchestrating baseless” media reports against him, claiming Jayathilak had turned into a “special reporter” working to discredit him. Known as ‘Collector Bro’ from his time as Kozhikode District Collector, Prasanth has previously used Facebook to counter allegations made against him. 

Gopalakrishnan, meanwhile, was investigated by Kerala police after he reported that his WhatsApp account had been used to create religion-based groups without his consent. 

Thiruvananthapuram city police investigated and submitted a report to the state police chief. 

Despite reports suggesting the IAS officer's phone was not hacked, Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Sparjan Kumar clarified that it’s still uncertain, as the device had been "reset." 

The disputed WhatsApp group, labeled as a Hindu community group, included officers from various communities.