MP Government Issued Notice to IAS Lokesh Jangid in Controversial Chat Issue, Indiscipline not be Tolerated Says Minister Sarang

BHOPAL / Alleged chat of bureaucrat Lokesh Kumar Jangid on IAS (Indian Administrative Services) officers WhatsApp group leaked on social media, stood a new controversy which created ripples in the political corridors of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.

Jangid, the 2014-batch IAS officer who was displeased after his recent transfer from Barwani to Bhopal has expressed his ire at the system by sharing a series of controversial posts in a closed messaging group of MPIASOA (Madhya Pradesh IAS Officers Association).

Jangid had made a stinging criticism of senior bureaucrats on the WhatsApp group, wrote, “Of course who’s who in bureaucracy are mere Nero’s Guests these days.”

The General Administration Department (GAD) has issued a show-cause notice to Jangid allegedly recording a telephone call from the principal secretary GAD regarding his transfer and making it public. “It amounts to a breach of trust and privacy and is a violation of Civil Services Rule. And sought Jangid to reply within a week. “, the notice said. While confirming it, MP cabinet minister Vishwas Sarang said, transfers and postings are routine administrative procedures, the action of leaking such conversations will not be tolerated, no matter who the officer is.

Bureaucrat Jangid, had earlier made controversial comments against the then Congress president Rahul Gandhi, senior BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitu Patwari on a WhatsApp group during the farmers’ protest in Mandsaur in 2017. He termed them as a ‘Noutanki’ (drama) when he was posted in the Sheopur district as an SDM at the Vijayapur sub-division.

The Congress state working president and the then Congress MLA Ram Niwas Rawat had complained against Jangid to the CM and CS, said the officer had violated the Code of Conduct meant for bureaucrats. After then, he was shifted to the state secretariat. Jangid has been in controversies since he joined his service as the IAS officer in the state. ​Even then, Congress has come into his support after his private WhatsApp group’s chat was leaked on social media.

The Congress government had also transferred Jangid in its 15-month-long Kamal Nath-led regime.

“I will come out with a book post retirement and hopefully bring the facts before everyone to see. Right now my hands are tied by the bloody conduct rules.”Jangid criticized the ‘Civil Code of Conduct’ meant for civil servants in the chat.

“The same officer was transferred even during the previous Congress regime in the state, so how come the same officer has become so dear to Congress party now? No officer is bigger than the system. Every officer has to abide by civil services conduct rules, which have been violated by the concerned officer. He has been issued show-cause over indiscipline,” Sarang said.

“Interestingly, those who mint money from all kinds of mafia get transfer from field to field. And those with impeccable integrity get thrown to Secretariat on transfer (sic).” he also criticized the government functioning in his viral chat.

During the chat, an Additional Chief Secretary rank officer who heads the Association advised Jangid that he had lost his decency about not only accusing his colleagues but also their family. The ACS suggested Jangid desist such things in the future but he wrote, “Which bloody colleague you are talking about!”

The Association chief also advised Jangid to delete all his posts to which he responds by saying he won’t delete the posts and he may be removed from the group. He was subsequently removed from the MP IAS officers’ private messaging group by the Group Admin.

After being created another controversy, Lokesh was transferred from Shahdol too. “Same thing happened in Shahdol when I was SDM. I told Collector that he’s a weak Collector, which he bloody was. And I was removed on that ground.” the IAS also chatted on the group.

Jangid was transferred from Shahdol due to his misconduct with the then Collector, Naresh Pal. Apart from this, Jangid had made ill-treat by Guna and Harda collectors, Bhaskar Lakshakar and Anay Dwivedi respectively, then he was transferred soon from both places.

In the posts, the IAS officer also wrote about both Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his wife and highlighted his caste too.

On 11 June, he has now applied for inter-cadre deputation to his home state Maharashtra for taking care of his ailing grandfather and widowed mother. Interestingly, while 2014 batch officer Jangid’s application to the central government via the MP chief secretary for the three years inter-cadre deputation cites pressing family reasons as the reason. News is also being in the round among the bureaucrats that has he opened a front against the state government for pressurizing to grant the permission for it?

According to sources, the transfer order had been issued by the GAD after receiving several complaints against Jangid for mistreating colleagues and subordinate officers and staff in Barwani.

In his nine postings after his first as SDM-Vijaypur in Sheopur district on November 1, 2016, he has been posted as SDM-Shahdol, under-secretary in the Revenue Department, CEO of the Harda Zila Panchayat, additional collector of Guna district and additional collector of Barwani district.