In these coronavirus times, the First Citizen of Bengaluru could well be called the ‘First Violator’ of Bengaluru! A video on April 4 of Mayor M Goutham Kumar distributing milk packets in his own Jogupalya ward shows that social distancing had been thrown to the winds. Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan was also present.
On Saturday, around 500 people stood in a long queue, within touching distance of one another, for the free milk.
The video shows people being checked with thermal scanners. At one point, the Mayor jokingly tells one of them that “your temperature seems to be high, so you should not come out from home.”
However, in contrast, many other wards in Bengaluru saw government officials, elected representatives or their staff delivering essentials at the doorstep of residents.
Giving his version of the event to thebengalurulive, the Mayor said, “We had distributed milk on the first day with people maintaining social distance. The social distance rule was not violated … The next day, the milk was distributed at their door step. Only on the first day was the milk distributed like that…”
Be that as it may, the ‘milk rush’ showed that the First Citizen of the city has not truly imbibed the message of his own party leader, no less than Prime Minister Modi, on the absolute necessity for social distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
As if on cue, city police chief Bhaskar Rao tweeted: “Social distancing will be enforced more stringently in the public interest. Your life is more important than your job.”
