Lucknow: Indian Revenue Service officer and Central GST Commissioner of Kanpur Somesh Tiwari accused officials of the Central Board of Direct Taxes of 'vendetta' after he was posted from Kanpur to Guntur in Andhra Pradesh for using Hindi as means of correspondence on the occasion of 'Hindi Fortnight' event.
Tiwari also criticised his higher-ups, who, he said, are steeped in 'slave mindset' and acted out of loyalty towards the colonial masters despite the country's getting independence more than seven decades ago.
He also said that instead of promoting Hindi, national language, authorities promoted 'slaves language' English. According to him, he was intentionally transferred to remote Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, which is a non-Hindi province where Hindi is not spoken.
"I have been corresponding in Hindi only to respect the official language on Hindi Day, but instead of supporting it, the board has transferred me from Kanpur to Guntur. This is arbitrary move and was done to stop me from doing correspondence in Hindi. Guntur officials have clearly asked me to use English. I have complained to the Prime Minister's Office. An appeal has also been filed in the High Court," Tiwari said.
The Central GST Commissioner has complained about the matter to the Prime Minister's Office and demanded an investigation. Tiwari has also appealed the High Court against his sudden transfer to Guntur, thousands of kilometers away from Kanpur, arbitrarily bypassing the rules.
Sources said Somesh Tiwari also brings out a magazine for the promotion of Hindi and continuously opposed the use of English as a means of official language in the Central GST Department. He has also complained agaisnt his higher-ups to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Home Minister Amit Shah besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Tiwari said a reply has been sought from the PMO but the department officials have suppressed it. He has said in the High Court that earlier his name was not included in the transfer list of the department. He termed the move as arbitrary as usually details are sought from the officers about their postings. According to him posts were vacant in Kanpur, Lucknow, Raipur and Bhopal, but he was posted to Guntur without any valid reason.
