In an outrageous move, the District Administration in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar asked some residents to have a bath before attending a meeting with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath so they ‘smell good’.
“I got the soaps from the Anganwadi women. I didn’t get the shampoo, but others did. I was told to take a bath with the soap before going for the meeting. We already use soap which we buy from the local shop. What’s going to change with just two bars of soap,” said Keshri, a villager in her sixties.
In videos that are being widely shared on internet, members of the community can be seen displaying the soap and shampoo they allegedly received. The package also contained washing powder, they said. Some even said they were asked to use perfume before meeting the Chief Minister, who was in Kushinagar on Friday to inaugurate an immunisation programme for encephalitis.
The videos triggered a barrage of criticism. Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav tweeted, “Such is the state-of-affairs when a yogi is a CM. The next time you visit the poor, try to understand their hardship”.
On his visit to Gorakhpur, the CM visited slum areas inhabited by Musahars and assured them help from the government. Later, he launched the statewide vaccination drive against encephalitis.
Officials, however, claimed that they did not distribute soaps and scent and they came to know about the issue through a video.
“We have not distributed these items but if somebody has done so, it must be for a good cause. The local administration is running a cleanliness campaign in slums and is sensitising locals as Mushars are not aware about cleanliness and hygiene. They are prone to contracting diseases like encephalitis as they defecate in the open,” said district magistrate, Kushinagar, Andra Vamsi.
The drive is being held from May 25 to June 11 and will cover 88 lakh children in 38 districts, for which the Central Government has provided one crore vaccine vials.
Earlier, the administration in Deoria had received much flak for placing air conditioners, sofas and carpets at the house of a Border Security Force (BSF) martyr when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath went to his place to give the compensation cheque.
