A day after a video emerged showing IAS officer Rinku Singh Rahi doing sit-ups in front of lawyers to publicly admit the lack of cleanliness at his new posting in Shahjahanpur’s Puwaiyan tehsil, the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday transferred him to the Revenue Council in Lucknow.
Shahjahanpur District Magistrate Dharmendra Pratap Singh told PTI that Rahi, who was posted to Puwaiyan tehsil only on Tuesday, has now been relieved of the post.
The unusual incident took place on Rahi’s very first day in office. During inspection of the tehsil premises, he noticed garbage strewn across the compound, filthy toilets, and some people urinating in the open. He instructed the offenders to do sit-ups as punishment to set an example.
Later, while meeting a group of lawyers who were on strike, Rahi was questioned about the punishment.
The lawyers pointed out that the administration was equally at fault for the prevailing unhygienic conditions in the tehsil compound, including the presence of stray animals and filthy washrooms.
Rahi responded by acknowledging the lapse and, in an apparent gesture of humility, held his ears and did sit-ups in front of the advocates – an act that was captured on video and widely circulated on social media.
The SDM later told PTI that the idea was to encourage better public behaviour. “When I saw people urinating near the toilets, I asked them to use the facilities. When they refused, I made them do sit-ups. Similarly, I saw some school children wandering the premises, and their parents were made to do sit-ups as a deterrent,” Rahi explained.
Recalling the incident with the lawyers, Rahi said, “They asked if I would take responsibility for the dirty conditions in the tehsil and do sit-ups myself. I said yes, because it was our shortcoming, and I did it.” He also added that the tehsildar had told him that significant cleanup had been carried out over the past 10 days, but acknowledged that if filth still remained, “it is our fault and I accept it.”
Administrative sources said Rahi did not return to the tehsil headquarters on Wednesday and left for Lucknow later in the day.
Published – July 31, 2025 07:04 am IST
