Many of bureaucrats in Chhattisgarh active on social media often face criticism over their posts from social and civil rights activists, including shifting of a district collector for posting political comments on Facebook.
There have been numerous instances lately of government officials posting comments on Facebook and Twitter, and instilling quite a social media storm.
Also, there has been noticed a rise in use of WhatsApp groups – comprising senior officers – to clarify their position after any controversy.
Bastar collector Amit Kataria posted on Facebook two photographs of him meeting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2015.
After the pictures went viral and were picked by newspapers, Chhattisgarh government issued a notice against him for sporting “sunglasses” and not wearing “proper clothes” while receiving the prime minister during his visit to Bastar.
Another controversy sparked inn February when activists groups united against Bastar collector Kataria after he shared content written by Areeb Ahmad, an IIT Kanpur alumnus and PM Rural Development Fellow in Bastar.
The post alleged the attack on Soni Sori was well planned.
Kataria, while talking to TOI, accepted the post had his personal views on the recent attack on Sori, but the content was actually written by Areeb Ahmad.
The post alleged the attack was well planned but the DM failed to give a concrete reply when he was asked how the confidential investigative documents reached the author who is just a PMRD fellow.
Recently, the photograph of IAS officer Jagdish Sonkar had gone viral. Sonkar had been snapped interacting with patients at the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre in Balrampur with his foot resting on the bed.