System gives special punishment to the honest: All about Rinku Singh Rahi, the IAS officer who resigned

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Rinku Singh Rahi, a 2022-batch IAS officer, resigned on Tuesday, alleging that honest people in the system are given a different kind of punishment, where they are paid but not given any posting or meaningful work for a long time. Soon after a video, which allegedly showed him doing sit-ups while holding his ears during a lawyers’ protest in Shahjahanpur, went viral on social media, Rinku Singh Rahi was attached to the UP Revenue Board. (File Photo/HT)He said he was kept in an “attached” role, where he received a salary but was not allowed to work for the public, as mentioned in an earlier HT report. Notably, he called his resignation a moral choice and added that taking a salary without doing any work is also a form of corruption. Rahi was posted as the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Puwayan in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur on July 28, 2025. However, he was removed from the post within 36 hours of taking charge. Soon after a video, which allegedly showed him doing sit-ups while holding his ears during a lawyers’ protest in Shahjahanpur, went viral on social media, Rahi was attached to the UP Revenue Board. After he assumed charge, he saw a clerk (munshi) of advocate Agyaram Sharma urinating against a wall during an inspection of the tehsil. The SDM then asked the clerk to do sit-ups there, which led to protests by the lawyers. A group of lawyers then told Rahi about the poor condition of the toilets on the premises. They said both advocates and clerks often had no choice but to urinate in the open due to a lack of proper facilities. Rahi accepted their concerns and said that, as the senior-most officer of the tehsil, he took moral responsibility for the poor sanitation. He then held his ears and did five sit-ups in front of the lawyers, a video of which went viral on social media. Taking the matter seriously, the state government asked the district magistrate (DM) for a detailed report. After the report was submitted, Rahi was removed from his role as SDM and attached to the Revenue Board in Lucknow. Before joining the IAS, Rahi worked as a PCS officer after clearing the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission examination in 2004. While serving as a district social welfare officer in 2008, he exposed corruption in scholarship and pension schemes. In March 2009, he survived an attack in which he was shot seven times, including two bullets to his face. The incident left him disfigured. He lost sight in one eye, and his jaw was dislocated. He remained in the hospital for a month. Rahi hails from the Hathras district of the state. He cleared the UPSC examination under the disability quota in 2021 and became an IAS officer in Uttar Pradesh in 2022. Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered.Read More