On the first day of his posting as Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Puwaiyan tehsil in Shahjahanpur, IAS officer Rinku Singh Rahi did sit-ups in front of advocates after admitting his 'mistake'.
Rahi, who was inspecting the tehsil office on Tuesday found the premises littered and some people urinating in the open. He made the offenders do sit-ups in public to set an example.
However, when a group of striking advocates pointed out the unclean state of the tehsil premises -- including dirty toilets and the presence of stray animals -- Rahi admitted the shortcoming and did sit-ups himself while holding his ears.
A video of the SDM doing sit-ups surfaced on social media.
Rahi said he had earlier instructed people to use toilets, but some refused and continued urinating in the open, prompting him to make them do sit-ups.
He also said that parents of some school children found roaming on the premises were similarly made to do sit-ups to discourage such behaviour.
"The advocates were on strike. When I met them, they asked me about the sit-ups. I explained that the act was meant to prevent repeat offences. They then pointed out that the tehsil premises were also dirty and asked if I would do sit-ups for that too. I said yes, since it was our fault, I did it," Rahi said.
The SDM added that, "The tehsildar told me that there was a lot of filth here 10 days ago, he has got the filth cleaned to a large extent. Even after this, if the problem remained then it is our mistake and I accept it."