At least 40 senior Rajya Sabha officials get ‘memo’ on Facebook posts

Senior journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah, in this article, encapsulates the event of demotion of an official working in the post of Deputy Director in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat for his anti-Modi posts on social media.

New Delhi:The strong arm of the law has entered the hallowed halls of Parliament where laws are made. Close on the heels of a senior Rajya Sabha secretariat official being demoted for his anti-government policy posts on social media, at least 40 senior officials of the upper house secretariat have been issued show cause notices as to why action should not be taken against them for similar posts on Facebook, a popular social media platform, multiple sources have confirmed to ETV Bharat.

The official action against these officials started on Wednesday evening and includes directors and additional directors among others.

At least 40 senior Rajya Sabha officials get ‘memo’ on Facebook posts

That was the same day, a memo was issued to Urujul Hasan, a deputy director (security) working at the secretariat. Hasan was later demoted on grounds of not maintaining “political neutrality”.

The central government as well as several state governments have taken strong exception to social media posts by its employees that oppose government policies like the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the issue of National Register of Citizens (NRC).

“There is talk of many state government employees being transferred and threatened with consequences after they declared their opposition to CAA in their social media posts,” said a state government teacher who removed a post opposing CAA fearing official action.

Hasan is alleged to have shared “several offensive, derogatory, demeaning and sarcastic posts on social media against the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and some Union Ministers and Chief Ministers as also sharing a number of posts indicating his active involvement/assistance/indulgence in political activities canvassing in connection with an election to the legislature”.

In course of the inquiry, Hasan is reported to have pointed out that he was being “singled out” as many more officials have also posted similar content on their social media platforms.

“This action against the 40 officials is based on what Hasan had pointed out,” one of the sources said.

The action against Hasan was taken after a year-long inquiry after an anonymous complaint.

The Rajya Sabha Secretariat, primarily mandated with providing secretarial assistance and support to the effective functioning of the Council of States besides other administrative and legislative work, functions under the overall control of the Rajya Sabha Chairman. It also assists the various parliamentary committees in the administrative work and logistics.

CAA offers fast-track citizenship to non-Muslim religious minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh and has become a controversial issue even as country-wide protests continue.