A sanitation worker in Uttar Pradesh, who was found carrying portraits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a garbage cart, was reinstated after he said that "he will never repeat such a mistake again."
The Mathura-Vrindavan Nagar Nigam had terminated the services of the worker on Saturday, 16 July, but reinstated him after "he unconditionally apologised and pleaded that he is the sole bread-winner in his family, and has two children," authorities claimed.
The Nagar Nigam, "taking into consideration his situation, and under the condition that such acts will never be repeated," reinstated Bobby.
The video, which was widely circulated on social media, showed Bobby, posted in UP's Generalganj, being stopped and accosted by some people, asking him about the portraits in the wheelbarrow filled with garbage.
Initial Termination
"Bobby was found lax in his work and his services were terminated," Satyendra Kumar Tiwari, additional municipal commissioner, Mathura-Vrindavan Nagar Nigam, said.
"Bobby, a contractual worker of Mathura-Vrindavan Nagar Nigam, was collecting garbage near Subhash Inter College. A portrait of PM Modi and CM Yogi was found in his the cart. When locals stopped the worker, he then realised that he is carrying the photos of these dignitaries. He immediately removed them from the cart. Due to the worker's carelessness his services are terminated," Tiwari had added then.
However, Bobby has said that it was not his mistake that there were portraits of the PM and the UP CM in his garbage cart.
"Before initiating action, what actually happened should have at least been considered and it should have been ascertained whether I was at fault or not," he added.
‘I Am Very Happy, My Children Will Not Go Hungry,’ Bobby Says
Speaking to the media after being reinstated, Bobby explained the chain of events leading up to his termination, how he was "simply collecting garbage" and that it was "not his mistake that portraits were in the garbage."
Thanking the public for their support, Bobby said, "Everyone has supported me. I am thankful to the media, and all the public, old and young, for supporting a poor man and his children, and for questioning the injustice that took place."
"I am very happy, it will ensure that my children do not go hungry," Bobby said, thanking political leaders, mediapersons, and the general public for their overwhelming support.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)