This afternoon it was seen how misreporting becomes a hasty tool against an honest government official. A known news channel, Mathrubhumi, posted a video of Prashant Nair, IAS, Collector of Kozhikode district using his official vehicle for personal use.
They described the car as a ‘luxury’ vehicle and accused the officer of dropping his children to school in it. Known for his progressive ways, Prashant Nair, IAS had posted a status on his Facebook Page regarding the same.
He clarified his stand by calling the reporting a case of ‘spit and run’. This collector who enjoys popular status among youngsters in the district, got a rush of replies from his ‘bros’. He also went to on to clarify that this official vehicle he uses for various duties and raid visits is a much more economical model than the luxurious vehicles used by certain other government officials.
The status went on to explain no one contacted him to clarify this issue out of respect for he was on medical leave while the event took place! The gracious officer remains non-perturbed. He has also clarified that he has been regularly making payments to the treasury for ‘non-duty’ use of the vehicle as per protocol. And went on to say that it is hard to believe that those who reported the story weren’t aware of the same. Prashant Nair, IAS also added that he believes in honest disposal of himself as a Collector while in office.
To The Kochi Post, the Collector said, “We have been taking stringent action against encroachers and revenue recovery defaulters that run into crores. There have been consistent efforts to target and demoralize no just me, but my team as well.”
The Kochi Post recently got to know that the video has been retracted.
Image courtesy: Facebook page of Prasanth Nair
