Meet Shailbala Martin, IAS officer whose post on temple loudspeakers sparked row

A social media post by senior IAS officer Shailbala Martin, additional secretary in the MP government, questioning the noise pollution caused by temple loudspeakers has stirred controversy in Madhya Pradesh, prompting calls for protests from religious groups.
Last week, a debate sparked on social media after the tragic death of a 13-year-old boy who collapsed and died during a Durga idol immersion in Bhopal. The boy was dancing to a DJ sound and suddenly collapsed. Bhopal Police launched a probe into the circumstances surrounding the death of the youth. The investigation fueled discussions about noise pollution on social media.
Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), senior IAS officer Shailbala Martin questioned the noise pollution and disturbances caused by the public address system installed in the temples, which can be heard several streets away and continue late into the night.
“And the loudspeakers installed on temples, which spread noise pollution through speakers far and wide in many streets, which keep playing till midnight do not disturb anyone🤔,” the senior IAS officer posted in Hindi.
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.
“But I have a question for DJs: If loudspeakers are removed from mosques, will the DJ and dirty sloganeering stop? It will not happen. Then all this will be done under some other pretext because there is politics behind this religious rivalry; it will not let it stop,” he posted on X.
In another post, Shailbala Martin said that the orders issued by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav immediately after taking the oath included the removal of loudspeakers from all religious places and banning DJs.
“The orders issued by the Hon’ble Chief Minister immediately after taking oath included the removal of loudspeakers from all religious places and a ban on DJ. This was a very well thought out order. If this order is followed and loudspeakers are removed from religious places of all communities and DJ is stopped, it will be a big relief for everyone,” Martin said.
Her post, however, led to a flood of reactions on social media. Some supported her stance, while others criticized it. The head of the right-wing organisation Sanskriti Bachao Manch, Chandrashekhar Tiwari, threatened to stage a protest against the officer.