Disciplinary action against co-op dept employee who alleged gender insensitivity

Jaipur: The cooperatives department Saturday initiated disciplinary action against Sumitra Chaudhary, a Grade I inspector, for her alleged actions linked to the dissemination of “false and misleading information in the media”, which the department claimed violates conduct rules and directions of the department of personnel.

In a letter to the chief minister, Chaudhary alleged certain gender-insensitive remarks were made by top officials in the department during a video conference held earlier this month.

In an official statement, the department claimed photographs “publicised by Sumitra Chaudhary” were were misrepresented, circulated without departmental consent, and that some individuals in the photographs are not employees.

“Such unauthorised and motivated actions have led to the creation of a false narrative, adversely affecting the image of the department. The department strongly refutes all allegations made and condemns the misuse of photographs for personal publicity,” said Samit Sharma, secretary and registrar of cooperatives department.

Sharma also said disciplinary action was initiated based on statements obtained from staff and reports received from the additional registrars of Kota, Udaipur, and Jaipur Zones.