India: Civic officials allegedly overturned 14-year-old egg seller's cart for not paying bribe
Due to COVID-19 rules, he was warned to remove his cart, or pay Rs100 (Dh4.91) as bribe
Dubai: A 14-year-old egg seller's cart, carrying eggs, was allegedly overturned by civic officials, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh over a bribe of Rs100 (Dh4.91). A video of the incident went viral on Thursday, and has sparked outrage on Twitter.
The incident happened in Indore, where the administration has implemented a "left-right" rule for the staggered opening of shops amid the coronavirus pandemic. The boy seen in the video, alleged that officials had intially warned him to remove his cart, or pay Rs100 (Dh4.91) as bribe. When he refused, the officials tipped his cart over, destroying all the eggs, the boy alleged.
On Thursday, Indian journalist @Anurag_Dwary shared the video on Twitter, and tagged government officials to bring the incident to their notice.
According to an Indian news report, the boy, identified as Paras Raikwar, said he earned his living by selling eggs on a handcart at Piplyahana square. Reportedly, the boy said his daily sales has been down because of the pandemic, and the loss of his stock will put additional financial burden on him.
Twitter users were unhappy and the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) officials were criticised for their "insensitive" attitude shown towards the child, and other poor vendors and small business owners, who were already suffering finacially, amid the pandemic.
Tweep @itskushalroy posted: "This is highly condemnable. People are trying hard to get their livelihood back to normal, it's high time [the mistreatment] of the poor stops. The government should compensate the loss and take action against such miscreants."
After the video went viral, the civic officials apparently took action and collected money to arrange for a new cart, and replaced the stock of eggs the boy had lost.
Following the criticism, the IMC has also reportedly stopped its ongoing drive of seizing handcarts. A public relations officer of the civic body said, "After strong objections by the public representatives over the Piplyahana incident, the ongoing drive of seizing handcarts in the city has been stopped till further orders."