Doctor turns autorickshaw driver after losing job

Dr Ravindranath was punished for the mistake of a clerk, he says, and he was not reinstated despite a tribunal's ruling in his favour in January 2020.

Davanagere: Facing harassment in the workplace, a medical doctor in Karnataka has left his post and his profession and drives an autorickshaw to make a living.

Dr MH Ravindranath served with the Health Department for 24 years as District Immunization Officer in Bellary. On June 6 2019, Ravindranath was suspended for getting the tender technical bid evaluation records wrong, he told ETV Bharat

Ravindranath, who lives in Kunduvada, said he had no options and drives an autorickshaw which is prominently marked "Harassed by IAS officers' misrule".

He was punished for the mistake of a clerk, he said and suffered harassment and was not paid for more than a year.

Later, Karnataka Appellate Tribunal, KAT, in Belgaum ruled in favour of Dr Ravindranath and he was given a job at Sedam Hospital in Kalaburagi district.

But Ravindranath says he was not given the posting, despite further rulings by the tribunal in his favour in January 2020.

Ravindranath hails from a farmers family - his new colleagues - fellow auto drivers have promised to help him as much they could.

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