The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) on Tuesday issued a notice to food delivery service provider Zomato over a controversial ad which showed actor Aditya Lakhia, who played the Dalit character Kachra in the film “Lagaan”, as items made of recycled waste.
Taking cognisance of the advertisement of Zomato, chairman NCSC Vijay Sampla also issued a notice to Delhi Police and asked them to submit an immediate action taken report.
According to the statement, the NCSC also received information from media as well as from social media regarding restaurant Zomato’s advertisement on YouTube, which was aired on World Environment Day on June 5.
Also Read: Zomato deletes ‘Kachra’ campaign video after facing backlash from netizens over caste row
“In the advertisement, actor Aditya Lakhia, who played the Dalit character in the 2001 hit film, is depicted as a lamp, paper, paperweight, watering can, and different types of jackets—the accompanying text detailing how much recycled ‘kachra’ was used to make each item. The company in its now deleted ad on YouTube also claimed it has recycled 20 million kg of plastic kachra so far,” the commission said.
Sampla cautioned the officers that if the action taken report is not received within the stipulated time, then the commission might exercise the powers of the civil court conferred on it under Article 338 of the Constitution of India and issue a summon for personal appearance before it in Delhi.
{{/usCountry}}Sampla cautioned the officers that if the action taken report is not received within the stipulated time, then the commission might exercise the powers of the civil court conferred on it under Article 338 of the Constitution of India and issue a summon for personal appearance before it in Delhi.
{{/usCountry}}Zomato deleted the advertisement after it came under attack for being casteist.
The company issued an apology from its official Twitter handle and said the intent was to “spread awareness about the potential of plastic waste and benefits of recycling in a humorous way”.
“On world environment day, our intent was to spread awareness about the potential of plastic waste and benefits of recycling in a humorous way. Unintentionally, we may have hurt the sentiments of certain communities and individuals. We have taken down the video”, Zomato posted on their official Twitter account.