Additional Chief Secretary KK Pathak, 1990 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, landed in trouble when his 36-second video went viral in which he was found using “abusive languages” for the state cadre bureaucracy. In protest, Bihar State Administrative Officers Association ( BASA) around 1400 members today observed black day by wearing black ribbons on their arms in the state.
Currently Pathak holds the posts of Excise, Prohibition, Registration and the Director General of the Bihar Public Administration and Rural Development (BIPARD). BIPARD in a statement admitted that DG Pathak has expressed his regret for using ”objectionable” words against the BASA officers.
Pathak’s colleague refers to him as an honest officer but he is ”short tempered” and “rough tongue”.
Talking to The Statesman, General Secretary, BASA, Sunil K Tiwary said: “We had observed three minutes of silence today for his ‘mental purification.’ On Sunday, we have decided to observe a day-long fast in front of our state HQ office.”
BASA has also lodged a complaint against him at the Secretariat Police Station. “We have also submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for taking disciplinary and administrative action against him. We have also urged the CM to set up an inquiry committee to probe the whole episode,” Tiwary said.
In the video Pathak was seen addressing a meeting of state administrative officers about the traffic snarls in the state capital. “Have you ever seen anyone honking on the main road when the traffic light is red. But in Patna residents are in the habit of honking at the red traffic light. But in contrast people in Chennai follow strict traffic rules,” according to the video.
Pathak seemed furious against the officers present at a meeting and used some “abusive language.” He lost his cool and chided state cadre officers in the meeting.
In fact last year in the month of December Pathak had written a letter to the Chief Secretary in which he mentioned the “indiscipline behaviour” and “attitude”of the trainee state administrative officers. According to official sources, he also cancelled the registration of the BASA last week.
The Bihar state chapter of IAS Officers Association is yet to react on this issue.