Rohini Sindhuri IAS: Rohini Sindhuri-Shilpa Nag issue in BSY’s court now, says Mysuru district minister

Rohini Sindhuri IAS: Rohini Sindhuri-Shilpa Nag issue in BSY’s court now, says Mysuru district minister

MYSURU/BENGALURU: A day after the public ugly spat between Mysuru deputy commissioner Rohini Sindhuri and the city corporation (MCC) commissioner, Shilpa Nag, over Covid management, an embarrassed state government scrambled to put an end to the controversy.After daylong meetings by the chief secretary and district in-charge minister ST Somashekar, the latter said, “Wait for two days. It will be resolved. The issue is in the CM’s court now.”Chief secretary P Ravi Kumar, who visited Mysuru to review the Covid situation, is said to have met the two IAS officers separately and sought their stand. He is expected to submit a report to the CM. Ravi Kumar maintained that he has not received Nag’s handwritten resignation letter sent on Thursday. The corporation commissioner had sought to resign from IAS, alleging harassment by Sindhuri.

Mysuru DC Rohini Sindhuri accused of ‘harassing’ MCC’s Shilpa Nag: All you need to know

In what comes as an apparent tussle between Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers in Karnataka, Mysuru city corporation commissioner Shilpa Nag on Thursday resigned from her post alleging harassment by Rohini Sindhuri, her senior and the deputy commissioner of the district, over coronavirus disease (Covid-19) management. In a press conference announcing her resignation, Nag said, “There is no conducive atmosphere for me to discharge my duties. No one should ever face a situation like this.”

Also Read: ‘Humiliated’: Mysuru civic body chief resigns

Rohini Sindhuri, on the other hand, denied the allegations levelled against her and blamed IAS officer Shilpa Nag for submitting “contradictory” ward-wise Covid-19 data.

Here’s a rundown of the controversy surrounding these two IAS officers in Mysuru:

What is the controversy about?

At its heart, the controversy in Mysuru centres on two IAS officers accusing each other of showing personal grudge.

Shilpa Nag, a 2014-batch IAS officer who has been the Mysuru city commissioner (MCC) since February earlier this year, alleged that Mysuru district deputy commissioner Rohini Sindhuri has been “targetting” her after media reports stated that the MCC has been doing a decent job in controlling the Covid-19 outbreak in the city.

Shilpa Nag’s accusations

Shilpa Nag said that Rohini Sindhuri held a “personal grudge” against her and resented the praise that the MCC was getting for managing the Covid-19 situation. Nag said that she is sending her resignation to the chief secretary.

“Today I am resigning. There is no conducive atmosphere for me to discharge my duties. No one should ever face a situation like this,” said Shilpa Nag in a press conference on Thursday.

Nag said that despite getting most of the work done within her corporation limits, there were calls being made to her office citing dereliction of duty in the preparation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the city.

“They are meting out insults and spreading misinformation. No one should work with so much arrogance,” she said, making another apparent reference to Sindhuri. “I cannot work in this suffocating environment,” she added.

Rohini Sindhuri’s response

Rohini Sindhuri, a 2009-batch IAS officer, denied all the allegations levelled against her as “false” and “baseless”, and in turn, accused Shilpa Nag of dereliction of duty. “It is untrue that there was any harassment from me and none has been mentioned even in the statement issued by Shilpa Nag,” said Sindhuri on Thursday.

Rejecting the allegation of harassment as untrue, the deputy commissioner of Mysuru district said, “The Mysuru city corporation was submitting unsigned and contradictory ward-wise Covid-19 figures on new cases, deaths and active cases. I had ordered that same be rectified.”

Rohini Sindhuri also said that Shilpa Nag had of late stopped attended coronavirus review meetings convened by her. She even said that Nag is yet to furnish details of CSR coming in from private companies towards the pandemic and other works.

“It is for everyone to note that over the last 10 days Shilpa has been issuing statements to press and media against the district administration. Such conduct not expected from a Mysuru city commissioner,” Sindhuri added.

Chief Secy meets warring Mysuru IAS officers Shilpa Nag, Rohini Sindhuri

Karthik K K By

Express News Service

MYSURU: A day after Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner Shilpa Nag announced her resignation, accusing Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri of harassment and high-handedness, State Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar rushed to Mysuru on Friday and held a closed-door meeting with the warring IAS officers at the Administrative Training Institute here.

But the outcome of the meeting was kept under wraps and neither the Chief Secretary nor other officials gave any indication about what transpired at the meeting. However, a highly placed source who was present during the meeting, revealed that Shilpa Nag had come with her resignation letter and, when she tried to hand it over to the chief secretary, it was rejected by him.

“No major decision was taken over the issue, but the chief secretary heard both the parties and also gathered details from other senior officials and district-level officers. The main agenda of the day was to review the Covid-19 situation in the district, where this issue was also discussed. When Shilpa Nag approached the Chief Secretary with her letter, he rejected it,” added the source. Shilpa arrived late for the meeting.

The meeting began around 2.30 pm in the presence of senior officers of the district including Regional Commissioner Prakash, DC Rohini Sindhuri, Zilla Panchayat CEO Yogesh, City Police Commissioner Dr Chandragupta, Superintendent of Police C B Ryshyanth and several other senior officers.

Speaking to reporters earlier, Ravi Kumar denied receiving any resignation letter from the MCC Commissioner and walked towards the meeting venue without answering any further questions from the media. Though attempts were made by reporters waiting outside for over two hours till the meeting ended, he remained tight-lipped and straightaway got into his car to visit Covid hospitals and take stock of the situation.

The source also revealed that as Rohini Sindhuri had issued a statement that Shilpa Nag, who was in-charge of CSR funds, had not given a full and proper account of it, a 127-page report about the works done by Mysuru City corporation was submitted to the Chief Secretary. A comprehensive report on various measures that were taken by the corporation and details about various teams constituted to fight the pandemic were also submitted.

Meanwhile, Shilpa Nag issued an official statement clarifying that DC Rohini Sindhuri had made baseless and misleading statements against her. “The allegation made by the DC that the CSR report was not furnished by me is completely false. The MCC commissioner was appointed as the district nodal officer for CSR funds, based on a May 7 order by the DC herself, and another order was issued on June 1 regarding removal of the MCC commissioner as district nodal head,” she claimed.

Regional commissioner to submit report on ‘violations’ at DC’s heritage residence in a week

Built in 1894, the serene villa of Jalasannidhi, the official residence of the Mysuru Deputy Commissioner has now turned into a hotbed of controversy, months after an indoor swimming pool and private gym was constructed on the premises. The Revenue Secretary has asked the Mysuru Regional Commissioner to probe the matter and submit a report in seven days. The order seeking a report was issued on May 31 and marked to complainants JDS MLA Sa Ra Mahesh and his party colleague K V Mallesh who exposed the matter. It is learnt that the regional commissioner will inspect the structure in the coming days and has so far gathered documents over the said project.