Kerala man continues to lose Rs 500 per month from pension as punishment for 2021 FB posts on Left minister

Muhammed Ali, a former personal assistant of the Palakkad Education sub-unit office had posted comments on Facebook against a former minister. However, he resigned from the post. An order has been issued to deduct Rs 500 per month from the pension amount.

Palakkad: An official who resigned from the state administration is still being targeted by the government in what may be considered retaliation for his criticism of a former minister on Facebook. An order has been issued to deduct Rs 500 per month from the pension amount of the former personal assistant of the Palakkad Education sub-unit Office, Muhammad Ali. The action was taken against the employee who was a member of the NGO union.

The government's harsh action comes at a time when the Chief Minister's security personnel allegedly violated all service rules and published posts on Facebook but no action was taken. On the other hand, Muhammad Ali posted on Facebook while assuming the post of Senior Superintendant in the Palakkad sub-unit education department office. 

The indirect posts on social media were against then-electricity minister MM Mani and speaker Sreeramakrishnan. The post was against Mani's smile and Sreeramakrishnan's purchase of glasses. A complaint was lodged with the police and the department against the post of Muhammad Ali, who is also a member of the NGO union. Muhammad Ali confessed to the crime in the police case and paid a fine of 3000 rupees.

Muhammad Ali retired from service in 2021. Then the departmental investigation continued. In the hearing conducted by the Deputy Secretary of the Public Education Department, Muhammad Ali apologized and gave an explanation. The departmental investigation found that the mistake was not serious. However, the order to deduct Rs. 500 per month from the pension amount pointed out that the code of conduct was violated.

Muhammad Ali has 36 years of service. The peculiarity is that action was taken against Muhammad Ali even though he was not criticizing the government policy. However, he told Asianet News that he would not comment on this incident.