Bengaluru: A senior IAS officer in Bengaluru, MR Ravi, is facing severe criticism for seeking to attach a condition to getting welfare schemes and pensions from the government. He is the deputy commissioner of Chamarajanagar district in Karnataka. Ravi spoke to the media at his office Tuesday evening about the launch of programs such as ‘No vaccination, No rations’ and ‘No vaccination, no pension’ from 1 September.
After a backlash, the district administration issued a clarification Wednesday morning, insisting that no official orders had been issued. Ravi signed the clarification. It had previously been reported that the IAS officer had been involved in a case involving suspected oxygen shortages at Chamarajanagar district hospital during the second Covid wave.
Ravi’s video announcing the two schemes and praising vaccination rates in the district went viral. ‘So far, the district administration has reached 75 percent of its target for inoculating those over 18 years of age. As part of our effort to save lives and keep our citizens healthy, we will launch a new program on 1 September,’ he is heard saying in the video. ‘Our goal is to make vaccines mandatory for those seeking rations under the Public Distribution System (PDS). We will launch it under the slogan, ‘No vaccination, no rations’. Similarly, ‘No vaccination, No pension’ will be launched. We have already notified all banks and have issued instructions,’ he added.
Ravi offers an estimate of the number of people likely to be covered by these schemes. ‘PDS provides rations to 2.9 lakh people with BPL (below poverty line) cards and Antyodaya cards. The government offers pension benefits to about 2.2 lakh people,’ he said. He explained that, ‘Citizens are reluctant to receive vaccinations, so these programs aim to ensure they understand the importance of vaccinations’. Within hours of his comment, the district administration issued a five-point statement defending the move.
We've launched a drive with the slogan 'no vaccination, no ration'. To avail ration facility, the BPL & anthyodaya cardholders, around 2.9 lakhs in number, will need to take vaccine compulsorily: MR Ravi, Deputy Commissioner of Chamarajanagar district in Karnataka pic.twitter.com/wOl5tQV5ye
— ANI (@ANI) September 1, 2021
‘We have observed a few news articles titled ‘No vaccination, No ration, No pension’. In this regard, the district administration has not issued any official orders. There is no question of denying rations or pensions to beneficiaries. The clarification is now issued’, the statement stated, avoiding any reference to the video statement. As of the time of publishing this report, we reached out to Karnataka Chief Secretary P. Ravi Kumar by phone and text message to ask whether any action had been taken in the matter.
In Chamarajanagar, the BJP Govt says it won’t give ration or pension to those not vaccinated.
But are there enough vaccines?
Have they persuaded people to take vaccines?Such denial of basic food and pension is illegal, unethical, unconstitutional.https://t.co/JVqfkrpGKb
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) August 31, 2021
A ridiculous, colonial order.
Ravi’s announcement of the schemes was criticized on social media as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘colonial’. There are only babus in free India who make policies from the colonial era that force people to make extreme choices. India’s bureaucracy needs major reform, as this case exemplifies.
https://twitter.com/Kamal4Bharat/status/1433007831649816577?s=20
DK Shivakumar, president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), said on Twitter that ‘denial of basic food and pension is illegal, unethical and unconstitutional’. He called for the officer’s suspension at a press conference on Wednesday. BJP Govt in Chamarajanagar says it won’t give ration or pension to those who don’t get vaccinated. Karnataka has so far administered 4.36 crore doses of Covid vaccines, of which 1.07 crore are second doses.
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