The Kerala government has ordered the suspension of four employees of the state’s General Education Department for issuing a circular to prepare a report on Christian employees in government schools defaulting on income tax payments. The probe order was considered ‘communal’ in nature since it was against Christian employees.
According to a statement by General Education Minister V Sivankutty the suspended employees are Manoj PK, Administrative Assistant at the Directorate of General Education, Apsara, Junior Superintendent, Geetha Kumari, Malappuram District Education Officer, currently in charge of the Malappuram Deputy Director of Education, and Shahina AK, Senior Superintendent at the Areekode Sub-District Education Office.
The controversial circular was issued after Abdul Kalam K, a native of Kozhikode, shot off a letter to the Director of General Education (DGE) in November of last year, alleging that the Christian employees receiving salaries from the government are not paying income tax.
Following Abdul’s complaint, in February of this year, the Administrative Assistant at the office of the DGE directed a probe and to take action regarding his complaint. However, a week later another Administrative Assistant ordered a halt to the probe.
However, the Malappuram District Education Officer, who also holds the additional charge of Malappuram Deputy Director of Education, instructed all assistant education officers to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. Areekode Sub-District Education Officer issued a circular based on the earlier direction.
Later, this order came to the government’s attention, leading to the suspension of the four employees.
The report suggests that the DGE has been instructed to file a complaint against Abdul Kalam for sending a letter that spreads communal disharmony to the state police chief.