The Madhya Pradesh government has served notice on an IAS officer for raising serious questions about the open defecation-free campaign of the Centre.
Deepali Rastogi, a 1994-batch IAS officer serving as Commissioner of the Madhya Pradesh Tribal Welfare department, expressed her views on the campaign in an article in The Hindu earlier in April.
“A show-cause notice has been issued to Deepali Rastogi for alleged violation of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules,” a senior officer said on Wednesday.
In her article, Ms. Rastogi said the campaign was an attempt to change a centuries-old mindset in just a few months because the white people said it was wrong to defecate in the open. She raised doubts about the availability of water to keep clean the toilets constructed under the campaign.
After picking holes in the way the scheme was touted by the government, she concluded, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for toilets. After all, I am a city dweller. I’m just uncomfortable with the way we are pushing it.”
Congress backs her
The Congress criticised the government, saying the questions raised by her should be addressed instead of suppressing her voice.
“Nobody is against the construction of toilets. But the questions raised by Ms. Rastogi are relevant,” Arun Yadav, State Congress chief, said.
BJP leader Prahlad Patel, MP, said in Bhopal that some of the questions raised by Ms. Rastogi were practical and the government needed to address this problem.
