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‘Cannot be brushed under carpet’: J&K CM Omar Abdullah on video of IAS officer abusing female colleague
The incident took place during a review meeting on Mission YUVA, wherein a heated argument ensued between Rajeev Ranjan and a junior officer, Beenish Wani.
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Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday took note of a video showing a senior Indian Administrative Service officer verbally abusing and threatening a junior colleague.
A video of the interaction , which took place over a virtual review meeting on Mission YUVA, went viral on social media. It showed a heated argument between J&K IAS officer Rajeev Ranjan and Beenish Wani, a 2015-batch JKAS officer, over the role of National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). During the meeting, Ranjan, a 2010 batch IAS officer, was heard calling Wani “stupid”, while also using abusive words like “bl***y sh*t”.
Abdullah, in a post on X, said Ranjan's conduct was “not in keeping with the standards expected” from a senior IAS officer. He further said he had directed the chief secretary to not take any retributive action against Wani.
Deep Dive
Wani is assistant director of employment and counselling centre, Ganderbal, while Ranjan is currently posted as administrative secretary, labour and employment in J&K.
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‘Threats make matters worse’: What J&K CM said on incident
J&K CM Omar Abdullah, in a post on X, said, “I’ve seen the video of the online government meeting that is circulating on social media. Prima facie the conduct of the senior officer was not in keeping with the standards expected of a senior IAS officer & the subsequent threats issued to a junior JKAS officer only make matters worse.”
The chief minister said he had “taken this up in the strongest possible terms with the chief secretary.” He said it was “unfortunate” that as a Union Territory, the control over IAS officers rests with the Lok Bhavan. However, Abdullah said that as CM, he had “instructed the CS to ensure the JKAS officer faces no retributive action.”
In a follow-up post, Abdullah said, “Had J&K been a state the IAS officer seen abusing a young JKAS officer would have been attached to the General Administration Department pending an inquiry into his conduct.” “As a UT we expect the authorities with control over the IAS officers to set the right example & ensure abusive, threatening behaviour is not brushed under the carpet,” he added.
What happened during the review meeting?
A video of the review meeting shows Ranjan allegedly interrupting Wani when she was briefing the meeting about the targets achieved by her office, according to a news agency PTI report.
While Wani, who was attending the meeting via video conferencing, was trying to explain that NRLM was used as a helping agency to achieve targets, Ranjan was heard saying, “Why do you need NRLM? If NRLM had to do this work, why would I give it to AD (assistant director)?” He continued further, saying, “If someone else had to do the work, do you just have to write the letter? And you want a medal for it?”
When Wani tried to reply, saying NRLM would “need to help us”, Ranjan was heard telling her to “shut up," and asking her whether she would sit silently or not. “Sir let me speak. You're not letting me explain myself,” Wani was heard telling the IAS officer.
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As the argument unfolded, Ranjan called the woman officer “bl***y sh*t”. “I can always talk like that. I am your boss, stupid,” he said. When the female officer objected to Ranjan's language and said he could not call her “sh*t”, he asked another woman officer to type out her suspension order. He further yelled at Wani, telling her to “get out.” Wani said they can suspend her, while adding, “To h*ll with you.”
“Record this and immediately suspend, and write to the GD how she should be thrown out of this service. Record this now, the suspension must go now,” Ranjan was then heard telling the other woman officer.
JKAS demands inquiry into incident, says no retaliatory action must be taken against junior officer
, and urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Atal Dullo, and the General Administration Department to ensure that no retaliatory action is taken against Wani.
The fraternity said that while it upholds administrative accountability, it maintains that no supervising authority can use abusive language and intimidation. The fraternity further alleged that the senior officer had a pattern of using “unparliamentary and demeaning language” in official capacity. They said that the department's attempt to dismiss the circulating video as AI-generated was “more disturbing.”
“The video is authentic, as testified by the officer herself and other officials who were present during the virtual meeting,” the JKAS fraternity asserted.
(With inputs from HT correspondent, Srinagar)
