'Exempted as I am a minister': Union minister Sadananda Gowda on not going into quarantine after flying from Delhi to Bengaluru

Union minister Sadananda Gowda on Monday said there are exemption clauses from quarantine for those who hold certain responsible posts, hours after he was seen exiting Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport and driving off in his car without going for quarantine. According to News18, the minister was exempted from compulsory institutional quarantine after he took a flight from Delhi to Bengaluru According to the report, his assistant told reporters that Gowda’s test report had returned negative for COVID-19 and he would undergo home quarantine. However, according to reports, the guidelines issued by Karnataka government for air travel make it mandatory for passengers from six states with high COVID-19 caseload— Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh —to undergo institutional quarantine for seven days. Gowda later said that he was allowed to skip institutional quarantine as he is a minister and that there are certain exemptions in the state guidelines. “Being a minister, I am exempted by the state government and the central government,” he told ANI.

Guidelines are applicable to all citizens, but there are certain exemption clauses, for those who hold certain responsible posts: S Gowda, Union Minister on allegations by opposition parties that he didn't go to required institutional quarantine after domestic air travel pic.twitter.com/lVVrS1FABc

— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2020

“Guidelines are applicable to each and every citizen of the country, but there are certain exemption clauses, for those who hold certain responsible posts,” Gowda told ANI  and also gave the example of doctors reaching for duty in hospitals. “I am a minister and I am heading the pharmaceuticals ministry. If the supply of medicines and other things is not proper then what can doctors do for patients? It is my responsibility to ensure the supply of medicines to each corner of the country. If I don’t supply proper medicines across the country, coronavirus (cases) will double, triple..what happened in America, Italy will happen here also” he told the news agency. He also whipped out his phone to show the Aarogya Setu app and said, “I have a meeting with Karnataka ministers at 4 pm. What will happen if nurses, doctors, and those supplying medicines are quarantined? Don’t equate me with others,”. With inputs from ANI