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Journalism of Courage
The rectification of clerical errors on government documents can often lead to long delays and dead ends. Tired of the slow bureaucratic process, a man in West Bengal took to a novel way to protest after he failed thrice to get his last name’s spelling corrected on his ration card.
Srikanti Kumar Dutta, a resident of West Bengal, confronted a senior government official by barking like a dog after his last name was spelled as ‘Srikanti Kumar Kutta’ on his ration card. ‘Kutta’ in Hindi means a dog.
While talking to reporters, Dutta said he sought a correction after his name was written as ‘Srikanta Mondal’ instead of Srikanti Kumar Dutta on the ration card. He then filed an application to get it corrected but his name was changed to ‘Srikanto Dutta’. Dutta then sought a correction and his name was spelled as ‘Srikanti Kumar Kutta’. After that, he confronted a senior officer at Duarey Sarkar camp but the official ignored him. Frustrated by the continuous errors, Dutta took to protest by barking like a dog.
While explaining his barking act, Dutta said, “I showed him (the official) my ration card. I asked him to read it. But the Joint BDO (Block Development Officer) did not answer my questions. He ran away. Why did he run? What was he scared of? How many times will a common man like me go to the Duarey Sarkar camp? We have to stop work for a day to come here.”
Reports have said after the video went viral, authorities assured Dutta that his last name’s spelling on the ration card will be corrected within two days.
