Karnataka Minister Refuses To Wear Face Mask, Says PM Modi Said It Is An Individual's Decision
At a time when COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Karnataka, a minister has courted controversy by refusing to wear a face mask.
Karnataka Minister Umesh Katti, who was seen without wearing a mask at a public event, refused to do so claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said "it is individual's responsibility".
"The Prime Minister has said that no restriction will be imposed and that it (wearing face mask) is an individual's responsibility. Whoever wishes to wear a mask can do so. I am not interested in wearing it so I haven't. It is my individual decision," the Karnataka Minister said.
Umesh Katti, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, is the current Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs and Forest in the state.
Past incidents
Last week Jharkhand Congress MLA Irfan Ansari, who is a medical doctor had masks "should not be used for long".
"Masks should not be worn for long. I am saying as an MBBS doctor that there should not be prolonged mask usage. One should wear a mask in crowds. There is no need to panic during this third wave of COVID-19. The symptoms will get cured in five-six days," he said when asked about his not wearing a mask in a programme.
Politicians even refused COVID testing
It is not just face masks that politicians have refused. Recently Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar had refused to get tested for COVID-19 accusing the state government of trying to "infect" him with COVID-19 by exposing him to an official who tested positive for the virus.
"Additional District Commissioner who came to test me last night has tested COVID-19 positive. He was sent to make sure that I get infected and test positive. The Government wants to make me a primary contact of the COVID positive person and that is why the official had been sent," Shivakumar had alleged.
Like most states, Karnataka too had made wearing face masks in public mandatory and those found violating it were fined Rs 250 each.
In the state capital Bengaluru alone, according to the data compiled by BBMP, around 3.9 lakh persons were penalised for not wearing masks in 2021 and fine collected added up to Rs 9.5 crore. The highest collection was in January with 67,615 people being penalised followed by February (36,887). The least number of persons penalised was in June (5,092) and May (7,545).
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