07 SEPTEMBER: The Centre for Public Policy at IIM Bangalore hosted a talk by Kannan Gopinathan, ex-IAS, on September 6th, Friday. The hour-long talk, titled ‘Freedom of Speech in Government’, followed by an engaged Q&A session, was held in the IIMB Auditorium.
Kannan Gopinathan recently resigned from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). He studied at BITs Mesra, Ranchi, and worked briefly in the Corporate sector. He joined the IAS in 2012 and secured a high rank in the Civil Services exam. He spoke about how he conducted one of the very few bribe and liquor free elections when he was Collector in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. He took leave and went unknown as a volunteer to work for the flood affected people in Kerala – until a batchmate identified him. He recounted his days as Collector in Mizoram, where he learnt Mizo and started many interesting initiatives including personally developing an “app” that enabled better delivery of public services and became very useful for the people there. He referred proudly to the outstanding evaluations from his seniors during his various postings, and that he still enjoys a good reputation with his seniors and colleagues.
‘Engage, Network, Innovate’
Beginning his talk with a tour de force of his work with an NGO in Delhi, his decision to join the Civil Services and the challenges he faced and the opportunities he saw in these challenges when posted as Collector in Mizoram, he explained how networking, reaching out to people and engaging with them paid him rich dividends.
An avid social media buff, he says Twitter has helped him connect with not just critics, but also influencers. Recalling how he connected with India’s badminton star and super coach P. Gopichand to tap into and nurture Mizoram’s young badminton talent and got the Gopichand Academy excited enough to build a high-altitude excellence academy and appoint coaches of calibre in the resource-challenged state, he emphasized the need for young leaders to develop a problem-solving approach.
He emphasized that innovation, the spirit of entrepreneurship and the commitment to make a difference to the lives of people have been the leitmotifs of his work as collector.
Moving on to the crux of his talk – the reasons for leaving the prestigious service, he dwelt, in detail, on his interpretation of freedom of expression and other Constitutional freedoms. Recounting several instances, at the local level and at a larger level in the country, which led him to tender his resignation, he repeatedly emphasized the need for a healthy democracy to have space and respect for dissent. He quoted Chinese philosopher Confucius and Civil Rights activist and Nobel Laureate Martin Luther King, Jr. to drive home his point that “when institutions fail, individuals must stand up”.
Stating that dissent and protest are fundamental rights in a Constitutional democracy, he argued: “The government has a right to take a decision, and in a democracy we have a right to discuss and protest the decision.”
He also referred to the Hong Kong government that “understood that the fundamental tenet of a democracy is the people’s right to protest and react to a government decision,” to emphasize his point that a democracy must provide and nurture a “space for dissent”.
In the Q&A session that followed, Kannan fielded questions that ranged from whether he regretted his decision to quit the Civil Services to his opinion on the health of India’s media.