Chhattisgarh Railways has suspended a woman employee for refusing to sing a duet with a senior official at his farewell party. Anjali Tiwari, a senior clerk posted in the Bilaspur railway zone, was issued a notice for refusing to perform. “Being an employee appointed under cultural quota, she is not supposed to refuse to perform when instructions in advance were given to her,” the circular dated January 17 read.

The news came to light after railway enthusiast and Halt Station author Rajendra Aklekar shared the notice on Facebook, which has gained attention on social media. According to the circular, on January 15, Tiwari was instructed to prepare a few duet songs to sing with Satyender Kumar, who was the general manager of South East Central Railway, during his farewell party scheduled for January 16. However, when Kumar expressed his desire to sing a particular song, Tiwari “flatly refused” to comply “under the pretext that she has not come prepared,” the circular read.

Stating “gross misconduct” on her part, the railways accused the clerk of exhibiting “casual/irresponsible attitude towards her work” and failing to maintain “devotion” towards her duty. Tiwari was also debarred from all official cultural programmes of the Raipur Division for the next six months. During this period, she is not allowed to be sent outside this division to perform for official events either.

The Railway Ministry has reportedly withdrawn the notice. Divisional Railway Manager Rahul Gautam told Hindustan Times that like people recruited under sports quota are supposed to play for the railways, Tiwari was also expected to perform whenever there was a cultural programme. He further claimed that she had been “arrogant” lately.