As the coronavirus outbreak continues to intensify in Maharashtra, a government employee of the State Transport Corporation has committed suicide after being in depression for not receiving his salary for the period of the last two months.
According to Islampur police, Amol Mali was working in the mechanics department of ST’s Islampur depot. ST traffic is somewhat closed in the lockdown imposed due to coronavirus infection. ST employees did not get their due salary during this period. Amol was reportedly upset because of lack of work nonpayment of his salary.
The deceased, Amol Dhondiram Mali, 35, committed suicide by handing himself to the ceiling in his house on late Thursday night. He was working in Islampur depot in Sangli district and was reportedly under stress because of the non-payment of his salary from last 2 months.
The dilemma over how to financially support his family amidst the coronavirus induced lockdown grated on him. He had been working as a labourer for the last two months to eke out a living. However, he still remained under tremendous stress. According to the reports, owing to financial distress and frustration, he finally committed suicide. He is survived by his mother, wife, five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter.
Earlier it was reported that not just the Maharashtra government employees but even the salaries of the doctors and nurses requested from Kerala were inordinately delayed by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. As a result, several of the doctors and nurses flew back to Kerala, alleging that the BMC had been interminably delaying their payments.
Maharashtra government sanctions funds for the purchase of 6 new vehicles
The coronavirus-induced lockdown in Maharashtra has harmed the economic activities in the state, thereby triggering a financial crisis for a large section of the underprivileged populace. The Maharashtra government is struggling to pay its own employees, let alone health care resources requested from other states. But while the state is floundering to make payments to the employees involved in the fight against the coronavirus, the government had recently given its authorisation for the purchase of 6 new vehicles for its ministers.
The approval from the Uddhav Thackeray government came at a time when the Maharashtra Treasury is in a bad shape in the wake of coronavirus induced lockdown in the state.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi government gave its nod for the purchase of Innova Crysta 2.4 ZX (7 seaters) worth Rs 22,83,086 from Madhuban Motors Pvt. Ltd., Lower Parel, Mumbai. It is pertinent to note that while the ceiling limit for the purchase of a car has been Rs 20 lakh, a special provision, with the approval of the state government’s finance department and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray was passed to pursue the purchase of the vehicles.