Hyderabad: A video of principal secretary of tribal welfare department A Sharath seemingly trying to touch the feet of chief minister A Revanth Reddy during a public meeting in Macharam village of Amrabad mandal in Nagarkurnool district on Monday, May 19, has gone viral.

Chief secretary K Ramakrishna Rao issued a memo on Tuesday, May 20, cautioning the public servants against indulging in acts and gestures in public which may impact their image besides undermining the public faith in the individual’s ability to serve.

During the launch of ‘Indira Soura Giri Jala Vikasam’ scheme that was launched from Macharam by the chief minister on Monday, Sharath, who posed with the chief minister, with the deputy chief minister and other ministers on the stage, appeared to have attempted to touch the feet of Revanth Reddy.

However, the chief minister didn’t allow him to do so. Sharath turned back, and the viral video clip ended there.

“Rule 3 of the Telangana Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, stipulates that every government employee shall be devoted to duty and shall maintain absolute integrity, discipline, impartiality and sense of propriety and no Government employee shall behave in a manner which is unbecoming of such employee or derogatory to the prestige of Government,” the memo read.

However, this wasn’t the first time that a bureaucrat tried to touch the feet of a chief minister since the formation of Telangana.

On July 21, 2021, the then Siddipet district collector P Venkatarami Reddy had touched the feet of the then chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) during the inauguration of the newly constructed district collectorate in Duddeda on the outskirts of Siddipet town.

KCR not only let him touch his feet, but also blessed him by showering ‘Akshinthalu’ (sacred rice laced with turmeric) on Reddy’s head.

As the then chief secretary Somesh Kumar failed to take action against Reddy, resulting in widespread criticism from all corners of the society including the associations of IAS officers. The opposition parties had also complained to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against Venkatarami Reddy, who was a conferred IAS (Group 1 cadre conferred IAS status- not recruited through the civil services exams).

Within no time he joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and soon was nominated and elected as the member of legislative council (MLC) by the BRS government.

The Monday’s act of Santosh reflects on the culture created after the formation of Telangana, where certain rogue elements in the executive feel it is a matter of pride for them to bend before the legislature for whatever reasons.

In case of Venkatarami Reddy, he said that he considered KCR as an elderly figure, the reason why he touched his feet. It needs to be seen what reason will Sharath give.