Baleswar district Collector K Sudharshan Chakravarty on Thursday initiated an inquiry into an allegation that Baliapal BDO Chhabirani Sahoo misbehaved with some migrant workers, who returned from Surat on Wednesday.
The Collector initiated the probe on the recommendation of Panchayati Raj Minister Pratap Jena. The Minister said action would be certainly taken if the BDO is found guilty.
According to reports, a video footage went viral in the social media in which the woman BDO was seen abusing and using derogatory remarks against the Surat returnees when they asked for water. They had come by a hired bus, spending from their own pocket.
“The conduct and behavior of the BDO towards the returnees are unacceptable when the State Government is receiving them with great dignity. We urged the Collector for an action against her,” said activists, Bikram Panda and Sairul Haque who met the Collector and sought action against the BDO.
As many as 35 workers had returned from Surat with the prior permission of the district administration. While the bus reached Baliapal at 11 am on Wednesay, 15 of them got off near the block office and the rest went to Bhograi.
While waiting under sun before moving to a quarantine centre, some of them asked for water and expressed displeasure over unavailability of the same. When BDO Sahoo came, they soon placed a complaint in that regard. But this irritated her.
In the video, she was heard saying that she was an officer OAS cadre and she had not gone to Gujarat in search of jobs like them.
Following her remarks, the returnees sat on a dharana, refusing to accept food and water. However, they withdrew from the dharna and moved to the designated quarantine centre on request of other
officers.
However, Sahoo said that she shouted at the returnees as they were undisciplined and the video was made viral to malign her.---------