On a French trip, Kerala IAS officer Rani George called back for violating poll code

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has called back Tourism Secretary Rani George from a tour of France for violating election model code of conduct. An urgent message to return was issued on Chief Secretary's directions by principal secretary at Department of Information and Public Relations through the Indian Embassy in France.

The IAS officer had sought prior permission to attend an international trade fair in France being held from March 12 to 18. However, rules say civil servants should not leave country once general election dates are declared. The tourism secretary violated this rule, the government said. She has been asked to return.

Rani George is one of the 30 civil servants designated as observers of Lok Sabha polls from Kerala. Replacing civil servant K Biju in the list of 30 officers, Rani George is yet to be officially assigned the duty.

The model code of conduct came into force from March 10 when the Election Commission of India announced the poll schedule. Kerala will will vote on April 23 to elect 20 Lok Sabha members and the results will be announced on May 23.

Other IAS officers on the list are: Anand Singh, Ratan U Kelkar, Keshavendra Kumar, S Shanavas, Abdul Nasar, Muhammed Hanish, Patil Ajit Bhagavata Rao, A Shainamol, S Harikishore, T Mitra, Jaffer Malik, Veena N Madhavan, S Venkitesapati, P Balakiran, A Shajahan, P Venugopal, K Gopalakrishna Bhat, KN Satish, PM Ali Azgar Pasha, Alkesh Kumar Sarma, Dr A Jayatilak, Dr Rajan N Ghobragade, TV Subhash, N Prashanth, Manoj Joshi, A Kaushikan, Dr B Ashok, UV Jose and N Padmakumar.