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Kannan Gopinathan

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Kannan Gopinathan
Kannan Gopinathan in Bangalore, 2019
Born (1985-12-12) 12 December 1985 (age 39)
Kottayam, Kerala
NationalityIndian
Alma materBirla Institute of Technology, Mesra
Occupation(s)Social activist, Engineer

Kannan Gopinathan (born 12 December 1985) is a former Indian Administrative Service officer and an activist from Kerala.[1][2][3] He resigned from service as a mark of protest against the restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of article 370.[4][5][6]

Personal life and family

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Kannan Gopinathan was born in Kottayam District of Kerala, to K N Gopinathan Nair, an Upper Division Clerk with Government of Kerala, and V R Kumari. He did his early education in Palakkad district of Kerala before moving to Kottayam and was state level joint topper in the Kerala Technical High School Leaving Certificate Examination of 2001. Doing his engineering in Electrical and Electronics from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, he was also the recipient of gold medal in the stream.[7] He is married to Himani Pathak, a software engineer, who he met during his volunteering days in Noida.[8]

Career

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Mr Gopinathan started his career with Freescale Semiconductor as a VLSI design engineer in Noida and worked for four years before resigning to prepare for the Indian Administrative Services. During the period he was actively involved in teaching kids in a slum as a volunteer with Association for India's Development Noida chapter. He was also an active participant in the India Against Corruption movement in its initial phases.[9]

Joining the Indian Administrative Service in 2012 in the AGMUT Cadre, the officer first came to limelight for his rather unusual letter to the then State Bank of India chairperson requesting an ATM in the remote subdivision of Hnahthial, in Mizoram.[10] His initiatives in the Indian state of Mizoram included efforts to improve state run schools,[11] and the drive to revive Chite Lui.[12] He also initiated the setting up of badminton academy and grassroots training centres across the state in association with Tata Trusts and Pullela Gopichand.[13][14] As District Magistrate of Aizawl, a highly disaster prone district, the comprehensive disaster management framework with Aizawl DDMA app and associated administrative ecosystem he developed won a citation in Government of India's 21st national conference on e-Governance.[15][16][17] Project Himna - MADAT, an early intervention and awareness program against drugs usage among upper primary and high-school going students started in Aizawl District during Mr Gopinathan's tenure was later adopted and scaled up across Mizoram considering the high incidence of substance abuse in the state.[18][19][20] The Northeast Today named him as one of the five bureaucrats who made a difference in the North East in 2017.[21]

During the 2018 Kerala floods, news of his volunteering efforts in various camps without revealing his identity as an IAS officer surfaced and was widely reported. Then 32-year-old, the IAS officer, Kannan Gopinathan worked at relief camps in flood-hit Kerala for eight days until he was recognised by a senior.[22][23][24]

Mr Kannan Gopinathan, as a secretary of key departments in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, was instrumental in transforming a loss-making government electricity distribution firm into a profit-making one and completion of two decade delayed ring road project in Silvassa.[25]

His twitter thread while still holding the position of a District Magistrate on the difficulties faced by a young man due to an Aadhaar enrolment error became controversial as the Aadhaar case was being heard in the Supreme Court at the time.[26]

Activism

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Kannan Gopinathan with Sasikanth Senthil and Rohini Mohan

After his resignation, he has been vocal on the importance of raising questions in a democracy, the threat of perceived victimhood among the majority [27][28] and on the violation of fundamental rights in Jammu and Kashmir.[29][30] A vociferous critic of the constitutionality and morality of Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 and the proposed NRC,[31] he became one of the leading figures in the Citizenship Amendment Act protests that erupted across India against the citizenship amendment act. He was detained at multiple places including Mumbai, Agra and Prayagraj, preventing him from taking part in protests and delivering talks.[32][33][34]

Government asked Mr Gopinathan to report for duty again in April 2020, which he refused by saying that he is ready to volunteer for COVID-19 crisis, but will not be joining IAS again.[35] Later, an FIR was registered against him under various sections of Disaster Management Act, 2005, Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and Indian Penal Code on the basis of Government complaint over his refusal to rejoin duty[36][37] Government also initiated disciplinary proceedings against Mr Kannan Gopinathan for service rule violations including his interactions with media.[38]

References

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  1. ^ "Ex-IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan held by Agra police on way to AMU | Agra News - Times of India". The Times of India. January 5, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  2. ^ "CAB protests: Former IAS Kannan Gopinathan, others detained in Mumbai". India Today. December 13, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  3. ^ "IAS Officer, Who Quit Service Over Kashmir, Asked To Get Back To Work Immediately". Huffington Post. August 29, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  4. ^ "Former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan who quit over Kashmir issue detained on way to AMU". Indian Express. January 4, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  5. ^ "Home Ministry Notice To IAS Officer Who Quit Over Centre's J&K Move". NDTV. November 7, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  6. ^ "'Restore rights in Kashmir': Ex-IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan who quit over Article 370 abrogation slams MHA for 'chargesheet'". Firstpost. November 6, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  7. ^ "Unknown facts about IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan". Business Insider. August 26, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  8. ^ "I must be free to speak and express my own feelings freely: Kannan Gopinathan". Mathrubhumi. August 30, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  9. ^ "Kannan Gopinathan: There was a time when protesting wrongs of Govt was patriotic, not anti national". National Herald. February 29, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  10. ^ "Give us an ATM: A young IAS officer in Mizoram writes to SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya". Babus Of India. November 9, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  11. ^ "IAS officer revives state-run schools". The Week. May 24, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  12. ^ "Drive to save Chite Lui". The Telegraph. November 16, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  13. ^ "Shuttling up to speed". Horizons. March 1, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  14. ^ "Aizawl District Power Monitoring - A crowd sourced app to realtime track down-times in villages & towns". eChai. March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  15. ^ "An IAS cadre who is trying to make a difference for the people of Mizoram". The Northeast Today. July 12, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  16. ^ "21st National Conference on e-Governance" (PDF). NCEG. February 27, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  17. ^ "CM-in Aizawl District Disaster Management Authority Application tlangzarh". Zonet. August 29, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  18. ^ "Survey reveals 'shocking' facts about drug use in Mizoram". Matters India. March 20, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  19. ^ "CHIEF MINISTER IN PROJECT HIMNA â€" MADAT A TLANGZARH". DIPR Mizoram. June 21, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  20. ^ "Micro ATM keng kual dawn". Vanglaini. October 4, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  21. ^ "Five bureaucrats who made a difference in Northeast India". The Northeast Today. December 29, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  22. ^ "District collector works incognito in Kerala flood relief camp". Onmanorama. September 5, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  23. ^ "This IAS officer rushed to Kerala, toiled for flood victims without letting anyone know". The News Minute. September 6, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  24. ^ "19 in 2019". The New Indian Express. December 23, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  25. ^ "Coronavirus: Ready To Volunteer, Says IAS Officer Kannan Gopinathan Who Quit Over J&K, Refusing To Join Duty". NDTV. April 10, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  26. ^ "A Scary Prospect: IAS Officer Tells Tale of Life Without Aadhaar". The Quint. April 9, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  27. ^ "The real threat is the perceived victimhood of the majority: Kannan Gopinathan". The Hindu. January 31, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  28. ^ "The government is like a crazed pack of dogs chasing a car: Kannan Gopinathan". The Hindu. January 19, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  29. ^ "Silent voices for people of J&K". The Hindu. October 20, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  30. ^ ""If we are to be mute spectators to all this, let's be that in a proper way"". Telegraph India. October 17, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  31. ^ "NRC is anti-poor and dehumanises an out-group, say former IAS officers". The Hindu. December 1, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  32. ^ "CAB protests: Former IAS Kannan Gopinathan, others detained in Mumbai". India Today. December 13, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  33. ^ "Ex IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan held by Agra Police on the way to AMU". Times Of India. January 5, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  34. ^ "IAS Officer Who Quit Over Centre's Kashmir Move Detained In Prayagraj". NDTV. January 19, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  35. ^ "'I am not going back to IAS' says Kannan Gopinathan on government asking him to rejoin the civil services". Times Of India. April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  36. ^ "'FIR slapped on Kannan, but he won't rejoin IAS". Telegraph india. April 25, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  37. ^ "'FIR Against Kannan Gopinathan, Who Quit as IAS Officer over Govt's Kashmir Move, For Not Joining Duty". News18 India. April 24, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  38. ^ "'Modi govt serves chargesheet to Kannan Gopinath, IAS who resigned over abrogation of Article 370". National Herald. November 7, 2019. Retrieved Jan 2, 2021.
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