A Dalit IAS officer has accused senior IAS official Gagandeep Singh Bedi of casteist behaviour at the workplace.
Erode Additional Collector Manish Narnaware took to Twitter to share a complaint letter he wrote to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary. The letter details the harassment he faced from Bedi while he was working at the Chennai Corporation as deputy commissioner of health from June 2021 to June 2022.
In his letter, Manish gives an account of the incidents that caused him mental distress and ultimately made him seek medical care for depression.
The ordeal started with Manish tweeting about a news report and Bedi having a problem with it.
Following the incident, Bedi continued to harass Manish for six months, the letter says.
Manish was asked by Bedi to go for a crematorium inspection though he knew it was closed then, according to the letter.
Bedi changed Manish’s Solid Waste Management team member SE Veerappan, weakening his team. Bedi also delayed the signing of necessary files and pitted colleagues against Manish, the letter states.
Manish wrote that the senior official also questioned why he was going to the Ujjain Temple though he was a Buddhist.
The regular humiliation caused him to break down, the letter says, adding that Bedi continued harassing Manish even after he confronted the senior official.
Manish asked for a transfer and his mental state has improved “due to constant support and guidance by respected Amudha IAS”, Principal Secretary Rural Development Department, the letter says.
Manish has asked for appropriate action against Bedi under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
The letter was deleted by Manish soon after it was tweeted. He said, “If you are working in bureaucracy, you can very well understand why I deleted the post,” South First reported.