Daijiworld Media Network - Chamarajanagar

Chamarajanagar, Jun 24: In a telling example of the extent to which corruption has seeped into the society, a young engineer allegedly ended his life due to the deep-rooted corruption in the rural employment scheme under NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act).

The deceased has been identified as Suresh (24), a resident of Kagalavady of Chamarajanagar taluk.

After completing his civil engineering recently, Suresh was appointed for five gram panchayats of Kollegal including Kuratti Hosur on contract basis under the employment guarantee scheme. As he was unable to cope with the corruption and irregularities of the gram panchayat ex-president and PDO, he took the drastic step of immolating himself, said his father Mariswamy Shetty.

Suresh was reportedly frustrated with the poor functioning of the panchayats and refused to create and clear fake bills. Unable to bear the torture allegedly meted out by the gram panchayat president of Kuratti Hosur and panchayat development officers, he poured kerosene and set himself ablaze in his residence. His mother who was at home at the time of the incident rushed to his rescue and admitted him to hospital. However, he succumbed to injuries as he had suffered 90% burns.

The NREGA was brought into effect by the UPA government. In Kagalvady, the scheme was full of illegalities, and the gram panchayat president Sardar, PDO Vairtamudi Manikyan and Sardar’s wife Saroja were reportedly forcing Suresh to clear fake bills. But Suresh refused to budge and also declined to share the bribe money. When it became too much to bear and when he saw there was no help or support from higher-ups, he took his life, said Mariswamy Shetty in the complaint filed in the Ramasamadra police station.

"My son’s honesty had torn apart his life; he committed suicide because he was unable to live in an environment pervaded by corruption. The guilty have to be punished," said Mariswamy Shetty.

"Just a week ago, the MP had ordered Suresh's transfer to some other place. But then he took this drastic step. The case will be investigated thoroughly," said Dr K H Narasimhamurthy, ZP CEO, Chamarajanagar.