Who is Rinku Singh Rahi? SDM who performed sit-ups in front of UP lawyers transferred

Mint

4 days ago

Two days after a video emerged on social media showing an IAS officer doing sit-ups in front of lawyers in Puwaiyan tehsil of Shahjahanpur district in Uttar Pradesh, the state government on Thursday transferred the officer to the Revenue Council in Lucknow.
The act performed by 2022-batch IAS officer Rinku Singh Rahi was seen as a violation of the All India Services Conduct Rules as well as 'unbecoming of an officer - an inappropriate act that was not in accordance with the post', said a report by Hindustan Times quoting a senior UP government officer.
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.
Rinku Singh Rahi took charge as Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Powayan tehsil in Shahjahanpur on July 28.
The next day, during an inspection of the tehsil premises, Rahi noticed garbage strewn across the compound, filthy toilets, and a clerk of an advocate urinating in the open.
Furious over this, the SDM made the clerk perform sit-ups on the spot as punishment, a move that irked lawyers.
After the incident, lawyers staged a protest near the tehsil office against Rahi's actions.
Later, during an interaction, the lawyers expressed their grievances about the appalling condition of toilets and the lack of proper sanitation facilities.
While acknowledging their concerns, the SDM publicly admitted the lack of cleanliness at Puwaiyan tehsil premises and performed five sit-ups holding his ears in front of the lawyers.
According to the HT report, Rahi confirmed his transfer and said: 'Maintaining sanitation is not directly the SDM's responsibility. It was only my first day after joining. I wanted to send a message to the society that when something goes wrong, an officer must show accountability. Transfer is part of the system. I will serve with full commitment wherever the government sends me.'
He 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 said.