Teacher’s name printed as ‘Kutta’ on Ration card, responds by barking at magistrate; old video resurfaces

A protest from 2022 is back in the spotlight after a video of a West Bengal teacher barking at a government official has gone viral on social media. The reason? His name was misprinted as “Kutta”- Hindi for “dog”, on his ration card.

The incident took place in Bankura district during a Duarey Sarkar camp, a West Bengal government outreach programme. Srikanti Kumar Dutta, a qualified teacher, had spent weeks trying to get the error corrected through official channels. Repeated visits, paperwork, and appeals went nowhere.

“I felt humiliated,” Mr Dutta had told NDTV in 2022. “I had to go three times, but no one listened. I’m a qualified teacher, yet I haven’t been called for any interview.”

When even the camp’s senior officials ignored his request, Dutta walked up to a car marked Executive Magistrate and began barking loudly — an act he later described as a desperate response to being repeatedly dismissed. “If the person who made this mistake had ‘Kutta’ written next to his name, what would he have done?” he said.

The act, recorded on video at the time, received limited attention then. But now, in 2025, the clip has resurfaced and gone viral, drawing renewed attention to the everyday bureaucratic delays citizens face.

Dutta’s name was eventually corrected two days after the protest. He thanked the media for amplifying his voice, saying, “There must be thousands like me. Just look at the growing crowd at the correction counters- it speaks for itself.”

Internet reacts

Commenting on the video, a user wrote, “Can imagine his level of frustration.”

Another user wrote, “Flaming protest..!! A 360 degree performance.”

The third user commented on X, “It’s a very novel way of protest. He’s actually drilled it in so well. Misspelling such a beautiful name as Dutta into Kutta is so horrifying. If I was this Dutta, I would have not only barked, but also bitten the BDO!”