A school teacher from Chitradurga district has been suspended after he wrote a Facebook post saying under new Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s rule the state’s debts rose, reported The Indian Express.
“Chief ministers who have made debts (in crores): SM Krishna 3590; Dharam Singh- 15,635; HDK-3545; BSY- 25,653; S Gowda- 9464; J Shettar– 13,464; Siddu-2,42,000,” read the post by Shantha Murthy MG, from Hosadurga taluk, who taught Kannada and mathematics at a government-run lower primary school in Chitradurga district.
“From SMK to Shettar, the total loan was 71,331. Siddu made a loan of 2,42,000. Hence it is easy for him to give freebies,” he added. The post was uploaded on Saturday, when Siddaramaiah was sworn-in as the CM of the state for the second term.
Murthy was suspended for allegedly violating the Karnataka Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1966. The education department has also ordered a probe into the matter.
Taking a dig at Siddaramaiah, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya said, “A teacher of a state-run lower primary school in Karnataka has been suspended for his FB posts criticizing CM Siddaramaiah for his policies. He merely pointed out that the latter could promise so many freebies because the state’s debt always rose when he helmed the Govt. Truth hurt?”
However, Congress tweeted on the matter and said that the party values ”democracy and freedom of expression”.
However, sowing hatred in the society, spreading fake news, disrupting harmony and abusing on social media will not be tolerated. Our government has taken a strict stance on this and action will be taken without hesitation,” he said.
An education official told IE that the Facebook post went viral following which the education officials in the district were pulled up.
A memo was issued immediately, and the primary school teacher was suspended for the next six months.
Meanwhile, Murthy claimed that he had not written the post, and it was his friend who used his mobile phone and put up the post.