'Loan burden, no pay drove municipal worker to suicide'

Subramani S, the pourakarmikas who ended his life on Sunday as he wasn’t paid the wages, has left behind a distraught family in deep debt.

His wife, Kavitha, who works as a housemaid in Guttahalli, Vyalikaval, received a phone call on Sunday afternoon from her brother. Her children, Prathima and Darshan, had informed their uncle that their father was complaining of severe stomach pain. Kavitha rushed to her home to quickly take Subramani to a hospital. Her world came crashing down when she found that he had consumed poison. “He did so because he was unable to bear the burden of his family and loans,” said Guruvaiah, a friend of Subramani’s.

“Subramani was the go-to man for his immediate family as well as his relatives. He always stayed away from trouble and was always conscious of his financial status. He was forced to borrow Rs 1.5 lakh to run his family in the past few months as he hadn’t received his salary. The burden was too much for him and the interest payment was burdening him,” Guruvaiah said.

Subramani used to help his sisters financially. Though Kavitha works as a housemaid, her earnings are insignificant. “The family is pinning hopes on the compensation that Mayor R Sampath Raj has assured them. The civic body has also promised to take Kavitha on the roll and pay her. All this should work out, otherwise, it will be difficult for her to raise their two children on her own,” Guruvaiah told DH.

The BBMP Guttige Pourakarmikara Sangha has urged the Palike to pay Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the family and file an FIR against the officials concerned.

When asked if BBMP officials have taken any action against errant officials, Sarfaraz Khan, joint commissioner, health, solid waste management, BBMP, said: “This worker was a mosquito control gangman and started working as a pourakarmika only a few months ago. I have ordered verification of his details to know what went wrong. No official has been suspended yet,” he said.