Labour Secretary asks govt to reinstate Rohini Sindhuri

Amid the uproar over IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri’s transfer, Labour Secretary P Manivannan said Tuesday he has requested the government that she be continued as secretary of the Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.

DH’s report that Sindhuri was transferred as she resisted attempts to misuse funds of the Board was widely discussed by citizens on social media.

“I am also another government servant like Smt Rohini Sindhuri! Decisions on transfers are taken at the highest level. But, we can always make a request for continuation and govt does considers it many a time. I have done that in this case,” Manivannan, a 1998-batch IAS officer, said on Twitter, a platform he uses actively.

Manivannan was responding to a citizen who tagged him on the microblogging platform, pointing out that the Board came under his department. When contacted, Manivannan confirmed that he had made a request that she may be continued.

The officer also assured citizens that funds of the Board will not be diverted towards flood relief, which Sindhuri was under pressure to do. “...have no worries! Nothing will happen that is illegal. This issue was discussed and closed long ago. The board cess money will not be used for anything else, except as per the guidelines from GoI and Courts,” Manivannan said.

Netizens also flagged a petition dated September 19 that was submitted to Sindhuri by the Karnataka State Construction Worker Unions’ Coordination Committee, seeking redressal pertaining to various Board-related functions. “The department is aware of the concerns of all the trade unions on the functioning of the construction workers board. Their concerns are legitimate. I am sure the construction labour board will address them immediately,” Manivannan said.

Apparently, Manivannan has also written to Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar on Sindhuri’s transfer.

Meanwhile, the Bengaluru North and South district committees of the Construction Worker Federation of India (CWFI) and the Building and Other Construction Workers Federation have announced a protest against Sindhuri’s transfer at the Mysuru Bank circle in the city on Wednesday.