Denied NREGS fund,worker ends life

Jharkhand Wife says he needed money to pay labourers wages for digging a well

A 40-year-old labourer Jaggu Bhuinya hanged himself to death on Sunday. His wife says he took the extreme step after he was denied money to pay workers he had employed to dig a well sanctioned under the MNREGA. Bhuinyas woes worsened,Kabutri Devi states in the FIR,when the under-construction well subsided in the monsoon season last year.

According to official records,Bhuinya,a resident of Karmatanr village under Hotai panchayat,Panki block,Palamau,needed the well to irrigate his fields. The Panki BDOs office sanctioned Rs 1,81,700 for it under the MNREGS last year.

After Bhuinya received Rs 7,000 as advance,he,together with other labourers,started the digging work.

Subsequently,Bhuinya received another instalment of Rs 7,400 and continued the digging work till his under-construction well gave away due to heavy rainfall.

This is what devastated us, says Kabutri Dev.

She added,The money paid by the government was spent,and we had no cash to pay weeks of wages due to workers whom we had employed. The workers began harassing us for the payment.

But he Bhuinya was helpless,as he was denied any further payment, states Kabutri Devi in the FIR.

The police has registered a case of unnatural death in this regard. Prima facie,it looks Bhuinya committed suicide due to some stress or tension, Panki police station officer in-charge J K Azad told The Indian Express. Panki BDO S K Sinha claimed there was no payment due to Bhuinya. We had already paid him Rs 14,500 and we have no document showing that any wage was due to him.

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Sinha added: We have come to know that there was a fight between him and some of his relatives on Saturday night. Next morning,he hanged himself to death.

The mukhiya of Hatoi panchayat,Bhagalpuri Yadav counters BDO Sinha. Bhuinya had approached me with his grievance. I had tried to get his payment but in vain.

MNREGS-Linked Deaths in Jharkhand since 2007

Feb 2007: Turia Munda,48,of Gitildih village in Ranchi district,committed suicide,was denied wages for over a month

July 2,2008: Tapas Soren,MNREGS worker,set himself ablaze,Charhi chowk in Hazaribagh district,not paid wages

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May 14,2008: MNREGA activist Lalit Mehta shot dead in Daltonganj in Palamau district

June 7,2008: MNREGS activist Kameshwar Yadav shot dead in Giridih district,reportedly tried to expose people who were involved in siphoning of MNREGS funds

Feb 20,2010: Subal Mahato,an MNREGS worker,was beaten to death by his employer for allegedly demanding revised wages.

March 2,2011: Niyamat Ansari,another MNREGS activist,kidnapped and murdered in Latehar