Pakistani girl's photo on 'Swachh Jamui Swasth Jamui' campaign booklet triggers row, probe ordered

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered an inquiry to ascertain why the error went unnoticed.

Image Credit: ANI

PATNA: A Pakistani girl featuring as the "brand ambassador" on the cover page of a booklet meant to promote 'Swachh Jamui Swasth Jamui' initiative in Bihar`s Jamui district has triggered a controversy following which the state government has ordered a probe into the matter.

Taking cognisance of the matter, state's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered an inquiry to ascertain how the error occurred and why it went unnoticed.

#Bihar: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered an inquiry in the matter in which a Pakistani girl was featured as the "brand ambassador" on the cover page of a booklet meant to promote 'Swachh Jamui Swasth Jamui' initiative in Jamui district.

— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2018

According to reports, the picture shows a smiling Pakistani girl, aged about five, sitting on a chair and sketching a map of her country’s flag on the cover page of a booklet that was then used for the promotion of the 'Swachh Jamui Swasth Jamui' initiative. 

The incident that came to light on Friday and apparently didn't go down well across various spheres.

The booklet was printed by Suprabh Enterprises Printing Press in Patna.

Jamui District Magistrate (DM) Dharmendra Kumar had ordered a probe to ascertain how the photograph came to be printed on about 5,000 notebooks that were distributed among school children in December last.

After the initial investigation, it also came to light that the photograph was earlier used by UNICEF in Pakistan to spread awareness about the importance of educating girls.

However, a blame game has already begun. 

“It is a grave error, and it was not spotted earlier. The proposal to print the notebooks was approved by the then district magistrat.e Dr Kaushal Kishore,” said Sudhir Kumar, the district coordinator of ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign.

The Patna-based printing press, Suprabh Enterprises, which is under the scanner for printing the Pakistani girl's picture, claimed that there was prior approval from the district administration to use the picture.