After criticism, Deoria DM withdraws appeal to public for funds

Deoria district magistrate Ashutosh Niranjan has withdrawn his appeal to people to contribute to the District Social Responsibility Committee (DSRC) fund to fight Covid-19, the district administration said.

The withdrawal comes days after DM’s appeal attracted criticism from people in various parts of the country on social media.

The district magistrate had issued the appeal on May 10 to the residents of the district. He had stated that those who wished to contribute to the district administration’s plan to fight the pandemic could donate to the DSRC fund that would be utilised for the treatment of Covid-19 patients in the district.The name of a bank and the DSRC account number were mentioned in the appeal.

Niranjan said, “Several people from various walks of life met me in the office with the request that they wished to donate to the district administration fund for health facilities for Covid patients. In view of the pressure of the local people, I issued an appeal. To make the donation transparent, I gave the account (number) of DSRC, which is audited annually.”

Shiv Kumar Jaiswal, a member of the Deoria traders’ organization, said earlier too residents of the district, including traders and professionals, had donated money to DSRC during floods or the outbreak of diseases, including Japanese encephalitis. “The fund was utilised for public work. The district magistrate gave the details of the utilisation of the fund to members of the committee at review meetings. It’s a unique initiative by local people to assist the administration in public work. We have urged the DM to permit the people to donate to DSRC fund,” Jaiswal said.

On Wednesday, 387 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported in Deoria. The tally of active Covid cases in the district was 2,931. The district magistrate said the recovery rate of Covid patients in the district was 89.3% whereas the positivity rate was 7.5%.

After the second wave, the district administration arranged 350 beds in Level-2 government facilities and 450 beds in private hospitals in Deoria, the district magistrate said.