Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Wednesday demanded the suspension of Chamarajanagar Deputy Commissioner MR Ravi for reportedly linking Covid-19 vaccination with the supply of ration and payment of pensions.
Expressing outrage over Ravi’s ‘no vaccine, no ration, no pension’ plan, Shivakumar said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai should suspend the officer and file a case against him.
“Is he a Chakravarthy (emperor)? The first thing the CM should do is to suspend that DC. He should face a case,” Shivakumar told reporters. The Congress leader also urged the BJP government to keep Ravi in their party’s office if needed.
“They’re promoting that DC as if he has done exceptional work,” Shivakumar said, recalling the recent deaths of more than two dozen patients due to oxygen shortage in Chamarajanagar.
“36 people died in Chamarajanagar without oxygen, but Parliament was told that no one died. The High Court formed a committee and the same DC along with other officials admitted the lapse. While the government gave Rs 2 lakh each to the families of 24 patients, I gave Rs 1 lakh to 29 people and the rest were covered by our MLAs. To date, no action has been taken against officials for the tragedy,” Shivakumar said.
The KPCC chief also demanded the sacking of University of Mysore vice-chancellor G Hemantha Kumar for the now-withdrawn circular barring girls from stepping out after 6.30 pm on campus. “The Governor should withdraw that VC. Even the registrar who issued the circular should face action. What were they thinking? We’re in India,” Shivakumar said.