At a time when reports of children getting infected with the Covid-19 virus is coming to the surface, an 8-year-old boy was made to clean the toilets of a Covid-19 isolation centre as seen in a viral video. As per reports, the incident is from Maharashtra’s Buldhana district where an adult can be heard giving instructions to the young boy to clean the toilet.
https://twitter.com/ek_aalu_bonda/status/1399549549643919361?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThe distressing incident took place in Maarod village’s Zilla Parishad School which has been turned into a Covid isolation centre. As it turns out, the panchayat had received an alert on May 29 of the district magistrate’s arrival for an inspection.
Owing to this, the group development officer of Sangrampur Panchayat Samiti had ordered the cleaning of the schools and facilities. This is when the boy who had visited the village to meet his relatives, was made to clean the toilets as others refused.
The officer threatened the boy to hit him with sticks if he refused to clean the toilet. The boy informed that he was given Rs. 50 for the work.
With the video going viral, the district administration on Wednesday suspended the panchayat samiti employee who deployed the boy for cleaning and was heard hurling instructions.
District officer S Ramamurthy informed, “An inquiry committee has been constituted and they will submit their report in three days. The employee seen in the video has been suspended. Action will be taken against whoever is found guilty.”
Maharashtra BJP Vice-President Chitra Wagh has demanded action against the officials responsible for this incident.
Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra
We reported earlier how 8000 children in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar were found Covid-19 positive in the month of May hinting at a renewed threat to the state of Maharashtra.
As per a New Indian Express report published early in May, as many as 1,34,470 children below 10 years of age were found infected, against 88,827 on April 3 in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded 15,169 new Covid-19 cases and 553 fatalities- a slight jump as compared to the numbers from Tuesday.