IAS Officer Questions Loudspeakers In Temples, Sparks Row

Several IAS and IPS officers often make headlines due to various reasons. They often share their work and opinions on social media on trending issues. But now a woman IAS officer in Madhya Pradesh has sparked a row from her post on temple loudspeakers. She has questioned the noise pollution caused by loudspeakers installed on temples, triggering a row and prompting a Hindu outfit to demand an apology from her.

She is IAS officer Shailbala Martin, currently posted as an additional secretary in the state. While tagging a post about the noise pollution and DJ music being played outside mosques, Martin said on X, "And the loudspeakers installed on temples, which spread noise pollution through speakers far and wide in many streets, which keep playing till midnight. They do not disturb anyone?"

She was responding to a social media post in which a journalist questioned the disparity in enforcement, focusing on public address systems in mosques and the prevalence of DJs playing music outside these spaces. The senior bureaucrat's post evoked a mixed response with a religious group reacting angrily.