Government teacher suspended for criticising CM Siddaramaiah on Facebook | Azad Times

A government lower primary school teacher in Kanubennahalli, Hosadurga taluk of Chitradurga district was on Saturday, May 20, suspended for criticising the newly sworn-in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a Facebook post. The teacher, identified as Shantamurthy, had criticised Siddaramaiah for his fiscal policies claiming that the Congress leader had come back to power riding on the freebies offered by the party in its manifesto.

Shanthamurthy was suspended on the same day that Siddaramaiah took oath as the CM of the state again after Congress managed a sweeping victory in the Karnataka elections earlier this month.

In his Facebook post, Shanthamurthy said, “What else can you do without giving freebies.” adding, “When SM Krishna was the CM, the debt was 3,590 crore. During Dharam Singh, HD Kumaraswamy and BS Yediyurappa, Sadananada Gowda and Jagadish Shettar’s tenures the debt was 15,635, 3,545, 25,653, 9,464 and 13, 464 crores respectively. But during Siddaramaiah’s tenure the state debt touched Rs 2,42,000 crores. Which is why it is easy for him to announce freebies.”

Hosadurga Block Education Officer (BEO), L Jayappa confirmed to TNM that the suspension was made as per rules in the Karnataka Civil Service (Conduct) Rules, 1968. The draconian rule says that no government employee should publicly make any statement “which has the effect of an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy or action of the Government of Karnataka, Central Government or any other State Government.”