Chhattisgarh: IAS Gaurav Kumar Singh appointed as new District Collector of Surajpur

Raipur, May 23: Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Gaurav Kumar Singh has been appointed as new District Collector of Surajpur.

Earlier in the day, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel had removed a senior IAS officer seen on a video slapping a man, and throwing his phone on the ground for allegedly violating safety norms during the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown, in Surajpur district.

The Chhattisgarh government issued orders, appointing Raipur district panchayat's chief executive officer, Gaurav Kumar Singh, the new collector of Surajpur.

"An incident of Surajpur district collector Ranbir Sharma misbehaving with a young man has been brought to my attention by social media. This is extremely unfortunate and condemnable. No such incident shall be tolerated in Chhattisgarh. Have given instructions to remove collector Ranbir Sharma with immediate effect," a rough translation of Baghel's tweet, posted in Hindi, read.

"Misbehaviour by an official is unacceptable. I regret this incident," the chief minister added.

The IAS Association had also condemned the incident, tweeting: "We strongly condemn the behaviour of collector Surajpur, Chhattisgarh. It is unacceptable and against the basic tenets of the service and civility. Civil servants must have empathy and provide a healing touch to society at all times, more so in these difficult times."