PATNA: A woman IAS officer of Bihar gave a shocking reply to a girl student when the latter asked for any government provision for sanitary napkins for school girls in the state.
“Can the government give sanitary napkins that cost only Rs 20-30?” the girl student asked, to which IAS officer Harjot Kaur Bhamra said, “Tomorrow you will say the government can give us jeans too. And why not some beautiful shoes after that.”
The IAS officer didn't stop there and said, “You will eventually expect the government to give you family planning methods, condoms, too”
The woman IAS officer's controversial remark came at a workshop on 'Sashakt Beti, Samridh Bihar' held in Patna on Tuesday. The function was held under aegis of Bihar Women and Child Development Corporation. Incidentally, Bhamra heads the corporation, which organised the function with Unicef and other organisations.
When the girl student reminded the IAS officer of people' votes for the government, the principal secretary of state's women and child development corporation, said, “This is now height of stupidity. Then don't vote. Become Pakistan. Do you vote for money and services?”
The girl student, who hails from the informal settlement locality of the state capital, shot back and said, “But (Madam)I am an Indian.”
The IAS officer intended to clarify that they should not depend on the government for all necessary things.
The government provides a lot of things free of cost. “But it does not mean that you depend on government for all things that you require for survival, the IAS officer added.
She, however, asserted that people's thinking must be changed.