The Municipal Commissioner of Nagari town in Andhra’s Chittoor district has been suspended after a video showing him criticising the state government surfaced on Friday. In the video, Nagari Municipal Commissioner Venkata Rami Reddy alleged that the state government had not provided any funds or protective equipment to the Nagari municipality to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.
The suspension order says that Venkata Rami Reddy had been observed to have “made certain adverse comments on Government” and had got “involved in political conversation during the crises of Covid-19, which are against to Rule 17 (1) of AP Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964.”
The order also said that disciplinary proceedings against Venkata Rami Reddy are contemplated. He will be paid subsistence allowance during the period of suspension, the order said.
In the video, Venkata Rami Reddy stated that the Nagari Municipality is not receiving funds from the government to deal with the COVID-19 situation. Stating that there are four positive cases of COVID-19 in the town so far, he said that the municipality hasn’t received “a single rupee” from the government.
“Today there are four positive cases of coronavirus in Nagari. Has anyone come forward to help? [...] Not a single rupee we have received from the government, we are doing what we can with great difficulty. They have frozen all the accounts,” he said in the video.
He added that the government had not provided any protective equipment for frontline workers. “We, our staff and the police are bravely going out into the streets. ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife), doctors and others are bravely going out. We got no masks, PPE (personal protective equipment), gloves or boots from the government.”
However, he heaped praises on Nagari MLA from YSRCP, Roja, for offering support to various departments. “On finding out about all of this, the MLA has offered help for five mandals. She has come forward to help MPDOs (Mandal Parishad Development Officer), tahsildars and municipal commissioners, saying she’ll give how much ever money is needed,” he said.
He also went on to say that the MLA was the only person in Nagari who was offering support while former councillors and corporators, political leaders, landlords and other wealthy people have not come forward to offer support and to provide essential commodities to people, unlike a few other towns and villages.
Venkata Rami Reddy indicated that a few business owners in the town opposed the municipality’s recent decision to shut down shops selling meat as a preventive measure against COVID-19. Reddy accused the business owners of putting their business interests over public health.
Earlier in Narsipatnam town of Visakhapatnam district, a doctor was suspended after he spoke against the government in a video. In the video, Dr Sudhakar Rao alleged that health workers did not have enough protective gear.