Mr Dabangg Collector: IAS officer gets warning for wearing glares while meeting Modi

Raipur: In a bizarre move, a Chhattisgarh IAS officer Amit Kataria, who wore a blue shirt and sunglasses while receiving Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, has got a stern warning from the state government for the supposed violation of dress code and protocol.

Interestingly, according to local media reports, the IAS officer was greeted by Modi with “Mr Dabangg Collector, how are you?”

In a warning letter issued to Kataria, a 2004 batch IAS officer who is Collector of Jagdalpur, the state government said while receiving the Prime Minister on 9 May  “it has come to notice that you were not wearing proper dress and had also put on sunglasses”.

The letter said that it was in violation of section 3(i) of All India Services (Conduct) Rules which asks every member of the Services shall at all times maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and shall do nothing which is unbecoming of a member of the service.

The letter, however, does not mention how wearing glares or a blue shirt makes it unbecoming of an officer.

The officer was expected to be dressed in ‘Bandhgala’ while receiving the Prime Minister as he was representing the state government in the district. The state government “warns you” that in future there should be no violation of laid down norms and protocol, the letter said.

While the order has received its fair share of criticism, the Chief Minister defended his government’s move pointing out that no action has been taken against him and another officer, who too has been issued notice for not following the dress code.

“The notice has been given as a warning that they must maintain protocol for the PM,” Singh said, adding, “All officers must maintain absolute integrity and do nothing unbecoming of a member of the service,” NDTV quoted him as saying.

While it is unclear if the Prime Minister’s Office could have been behind the ‘warning’, this is not the first time that such action was taken.

Last year, reports suggested that the Prime Minister’s Office had called up a certain Union minister who was on his way to the international airport to board a flight to Kenya. The minister, who was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, was reportedly asked by the PMO to return to his residence and change into acceptable Indian attire. “Are you aware that you are a central minister?”

With PTI inputs