Dr Ravindranath MH, a veteran Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Department doctor, has got his first posting in two years following wide-scale media coverage of him being forced to drive an auto-rickshaw to earn a living. Photos and videos of him riding an auto with “Harassed by IAS Officers’ Misrule” painted in the front and back had gone viral. The wide-scale media coverage had led to the Health Minister taking notice of Dr Ravindranath’s plight with the former saying that he will look into the issue.
The posting was given to Dr Ravindranath after Health Minister B Sriramulu intervened.
Speaking with TNM, Dr Ravindranath said he will join as the new District Family Welfare Officer in Koppal.
“I am happy with the posting. I am currently on my way to Koppal and will report to duty in the evening,” he said.
It was on Sunday that the issue of alleged harassment by IAS officers leading to Dr Ravindranath being left without a posting for two years came to light even during this pandemic.
Dr Ravindranth who had joined government service more than 20 years ago, was posted in Ballari district. His last posting was the district Reproductive and Child Health Officer.
But left without a posting and his salary withheld for more than a year, he was working as an auto driver in Davanagere.
He said his ordeal started in 2018 when he apparently did not cooperate with an IAS officer and as a result he was wrongly penalized regarding hiring outsourced medical staff. While he had got relief from the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT), he was shortchanged by IAS officers yet again.
He said while he had served in rural areas for 17 years, he was given a taluk-level post upon reinstatement. He approached the KAT again, where it was said that he be reinstated at a district level post within a month in 2018. But the KAT orders were not complied and he has been left without a post since then.
It was only after he was left without a post, Dr Ravindranth decided to buy an auto to earn his living.