Tweeting is not govt. officer’s job: Nitish on IPS officers post on social media against his ‘madam’ boss

Nitish Kumar further said that he has already directed senior officials to investigate and report the issue to him

Taking strong exception to tweets by a senior police official in Bihar against his department ‘madam’ boss for abusing him regularly, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said tweeting was not an officer’s job as it was against official rules.

Earlier, senior IPS officer Vikash Vaibhav had tweeted to say he was being abused by DG madam every day and he was quite perturbed over it. Mr. Vaibhav was later issued a show-cause notice over his tweets. However, he, later, had deleted his post but, by then, a screenshot of his post had gone viral. Mr. Kumar has also directed senior officials to make an inquiry into the controversy.

“Anyone who is an officer and in a government job should not put things through a tweet. This is a very bad thing. If they have a problem, they should inform their department seniors. They should convey it personally but not declare it publicly”, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told presspersons on being asked to comment on senior IPS officer Vikash Vaibhav’s tweet. Mr. Kumar further said that he has already directed senior officials to investigate and report the issue to him.

Recently, Mr. Vaibhav, a 2003-batch IPS officer with a keen interest in Indian history, archaeology and motivational speeches, had tweeted to say that he was being abused by DG (Director General) ‘madam’ every day unnecessarily. Mr. Vaibhav is currently posted as Inspector General of police in the Home Guards and Fire Services Department, while Ms. Shobha Ohatker, an IPS officer of the 1990-batch, is the DG of the department. “I was given the responsibility of IG, Home Guards and Fire Services on 18.10.2022 and since then I’m making every effort to discharge all my new responsibilities but the DG madam abuses me unnecessarily everyday (recordings too). I’m shocked”, tweeted Mr Vaibhav in Hindi.

In another post, Mr. Vaibhav tweeted, “mind is restless, wants to be freed from confinement”. However, later, Mr. Vaibhav had deleted his post, but by then, the screenshot of the same had gone viral on social media.

Later, Mr. Vaibhav was served a show-cause notice citing provisions of Rule 3 of the All India Services Conduct Rules, 1968 with an allegation of violation of confidentiality. “The matter of recording by you in the viral message has been brought into the public domain. It is clear from this that you record the discussions held in the office meetings and this shows your wrong intention. It also violates the relevant provisions of the Official Secrets Act, “ said the notice.

A few days back, a video which had gone viral on social media, senior IAS officer of the State K.K. Pathak, who is currently posted as Additional Chief Secretary in the Excise, Prohibition and Registration department, was seen hurling abuse at junior officers of Bihar Administration Department who, later, had lodged a complaint against Mr. Pathak at the local Secretariat police station.