Gowda was at the centre of a controversy on Monday after he did not undergo quarantine on arrival from Delhi by a commercial flight.
Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday said he did not violate any lockdown norms and he was pained at an attempt to make his official visit to Bengaluru a controversial one.
Gowda was at the centre of a controversy on Monday after he did not undergo quarantine on arrival from Delhi by a commercial flight. He claimed that he came under the exempted category being in-charge of pharmaceuticals, an essential sector.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Gowda clarified his stand and also announced that he has tested negative for COVID-19.
"Pained at an attempt made to make my official visit to Bengaluru a controversial one despite I being a Union Minister handling Pharmaceutical Dept, an essential wing fighting COVID19," the Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister said.
"There are some misleading reports that I disobeyed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of Lockdown. However, I would like to clarify that I followed the SOP, which exempts Ministers, Officers on duty from being quarantined. I am attaching the copy of addendum issued by GOK (Government of Karnataka) on May 23, for your perusal. Being in Government, we ministers, officers, doctors, healthcare workers, police, security personnel, sanitising workers, govt staff and public representatives have to be in the field helping people," he added.
He said essential services have to be continued at any cost. "On many occasions, we face hazardous situations. But we have to carry out our duty," he said.
"There may be some shortcomings in this big war against Corona. But let us focus on lot of positive things which are happening all around," the Bengaluru North MP said.
"Happy to share with you a small information that the result of my latest Covid-19 test, which was carried out yesterday, is negative," Gowda said.
As domestic passenger flight services resumed on Monday after two months, Gowda arrived from Delhi to Bengaluru by a commercial airline and drove off in an official car without undergoing institutional quarantine as mandated by the Karnataka government for air travellers coming from high COVID-19 prevalence states.
His travel and refusal to follow quarantine triggered a controversy with the opposition Congress accusing him of violating norms.
The Karnataka government said the Centre had issued orders exempting such people handling essential sectors from quarantine norms and issued an addendum issued on May 23 to the standard operating procedure (SOP) for inter-state passengers, exempting Ministers of union and state government, also officers on official duty from quarantining.
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 "Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda held meeting with Karnataka officials on his arrival to Bengaluru on Monday")
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