Mangaluru: Mr Sasikanth Senthil who resigned as the deputy commissioner of Dakshina Kannada on Friday, speaking of his unhappiness with "fundamental building blocks of democracy being compromised in an unprecedented manner," has refused to reconsider despite being asked to by the Chief Secretary.
After his sudden announcement, the Chief Secretary spoke to Mr Senthil on the phone Friday evening, suggesting that he withdraw his resignation. "But I have made my stand clear. I have decided to resign and will stand by it. I have already given my resignation. Since it is an ideological decision I cannot go back on it. My resignation is final,” Mr Senthil told Deccan Chronicle.
When asked if an IAS officer was justified in resigning because of a change in policy at the Centre, he said he was hurt when the spirit of the Constitution was jeopardised.
“When we enter bureaucracy we accept to follow all the policies of the government, which are in accordance with the law and in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution. The spirit of the constitution is its preamble, which says our country is diverse, socialist, secularist and liberal. So when a government makes a move which may be in accordance with the law but may involve hate politics, and questioning the liberty of an individual, it is not in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution. When we entered the service we thought we would be part of a system where the quality could change, but when the direction itself is changing, it is be difficult for me to continue,” the officer elaborated, adding, “It would be a big failure personally if I continued.”
