Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has urged government servants to keep aside their religious affiliations while discharging their duties and to work within the framework of the Constitution by upholding secularism.

Addressing the centenary celebrations of the Karnataka Administration Services Association in Bangalore on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah said: “Religion exists. But religion and government have no connection.”

The Congress leader reminded all government servants, including IAS officers, about the need to keep their faith aside while carrying out their duty.

“Government officials should not intervene in political matters and religious issues. Our Constitution has made this very clear. It (the Constitution) very clearly upholds secularism,” the chief minister said.

“You should function within the framework of the Constitution and work to protect the Constitution. It is everyone’s responsibility to protect the Constitution. If you protect the Constitution, the Constitution will protect all of us,” he said.

A strong advocate of a secular society without caste and religious barriers, Siddaramaiah urged government servants to follow similar ideals since they were all educated. “The educated should be rational (human beings) and not be advocates of the caste system. Only then can we bring about changes in society,” he noted.

A socialist right from his student days, Siddaramaiah has been the torchbearer of the Ahinda cause for social justice. A Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes, Dalits and Adivasis, Ahinda was a concept launched by Congress leader and then chief minister Devraj Urs in the early 1970s.

Siddaramaiah urged government servants to understand their responsibilities and work accordingly to serve the people. “Introspect your responsibilities. While it is we, the politicians, who frame laws, you are the ones who implement them as you work between the people and the government. If you work for the people, even we earn a good image,” he said.

“There are lots of good government servants. But there are some who are not. Under no circumstances should you engage in anti-people and anti-farmer activities,” the chief minister said, highlighting the two planks on which the state government has been functioning with its welfare programmes.

Siddaramaiah’s strongly worded advice to the officials is in tandem with the Congress government’s efforts to cleanse the bureaucracy, sections of which the party had accused of becoming a tool in the hands of the previous BJP dispensation.

Soon after taking oath of office, Siddaramaiah and his deputy D.K. Shivakumar had warned the police top brass against saffronisation.