Man hoisted flag talking on phone
Pammal municipal chief Ilango speaks on phone while hoisting tricolour in a school. (Photo: DC)
Chennai: Following a report in DC that a municipal chairman in Pammal was speaking on the phone while hoisting the tricolour during the recent Independence Day celebrations, an RTI activist had petitioned the commissioner of municipal administration regarding action that had been taken against the elected representative.
“Based on the RTI petition, the commissionerate of municipal administration ordered an enquiry against Pammal chairman C.V. Ilangovan and designated the municipal administration regional director of Chengalpet to submit a report on the issue,” RTI activist R. Natarajan said.
“The news item carried by DC was a rude shock to me and it forced me to lodge a complaint against the chairman,” he said.
The commissionerate of municipal administration, in an RTI reply, said that the chairman was pulled up for an inquiry where he regretted the event, clarifying that there was no fault against him.
“In his inquiry explanation, the chairman said that as a citizen of India, he had been brought up with a nationalist spirit and respect for the flag. The incident over the call was devised deliberately, a photograph taken and circulated with ill intention. As a mark of respect to the tricolour, I was not even wearing slippers. My act was not intentional, it was an instinctive act of answering the phone to switch it off and there was no violation of National Honour Act, Flag Code 1971,” the RTI reply said.
The designated officer has cleared the inquiry after providing suitable explanations, the RTI response pointed out.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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