Uttarakhand CM sparks new row with 'more kids, more ration' remark

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Sunday again created a controversy with his remark over the amount of ration distributed during the COVID-19 lockdown: A family with two children got less ration and they would have got more if they had 20 children.

Addressing an event at Uttarakhand's Ramnagar, Rawat said, "Jisne 20 bacche paida kiye usse humne ek quintal anaj diya. Jisne do paida kiye unko 10 kilo. Jab waqt tha toh bacche paida kiye nhi....ab jisko jayada aanaj mil raha hai usse jalan kaisi (the family with 20 kids were distributed one quintal of rice while the family with two kids got 10 kg of rice. You did not give birth to enough kids when there was time...so there is nothing to be jealous of)."

The Uttarakhand CM also made a factual error when he said in this speech that 'America enslaved India for 200 years'.

"As opposed to other countries, India is doing better in terms of handling the COVID-19 crisis.

"America, which enslaved us for 200 years and ruled the world, is struggling in current times," he said.

The newly appointed CM of Uttarakhand had recently stirred a row by saying that women wearing ripped jeans send a wrong message to society and children.

Speaking at a workshop organised by the Uttarakhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights in Dehradun, Rawat said that he was shocked to meet a woman, who runs an NGO, wearing ripped jeans on a flight with her kids.

"What kind of message are we giving out to society," he said.

Amid condemnation of Rawat's comments, several women, including politicians and celebrities, posted photos in ripped jeans with the hashtag #RippedJeansTwitter.