MNREGA Officer's Hand Chopped Off Because He Refused To Pass An Inflated Bill

A technical coordinator implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) had to pay a heavy price for refusing to clear inflated bills: Angry contractors chopped his right hand with a machete. Luckily for him, it wasn't completely severed.

HR Srinivas, 53, is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Basaveshwaranagar. When TOI visited him on Wednesday, he pointed to his hand and said: "This is what we get for being honest and doing our duty ."

Doctors have bandaged the hand as a first measure and are exploring the possibility of reconstructing it.

TOI

Srinivas works for an organization that has been entrusted with implementation of the job scheme in Kunigal taluk of Tumakuru district. His job was to give technical sanctions to works undertaken, and to check measurements. The head of a team of five engineers, his findings determined payments to be made to contractors.

Trouble erupted when Srinivas, along with Kunigal taluk panchayat officer Narasimhaiah, visited recharge pits (where rainwater is used to replenish groundwater) between Bagenahalli and CH Palya. "We found that the contractors had exaggerated the measurements of works executed. The official estimate for each pit was Rs 69,000.We decided to reduce the amount to Rs 42,000 per pit as they did not conform to the prescribed standards. That angered contractors Keshava and Manjunath," Srinivas said.

On Monday , Keshava barged into the taluk office and threatened Srinivas with dire consequences if he reduced the amount. Srinivas told him that he would be pulled up if he cleared the inflated bills.

Keshava reportedly warned him: "I'll chop your hand if you sign the modified bill."

Undeterred, Srinivas and his senior decided to go by the rulebook.

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"We are collecting more information about the incident," said Vipul Bansal, commissioner (rural development-MNREGA). Srinivas said: "After finishing work, I was riding back to Magadi from Kunigal, about 20 km away , on my two-wheeler when Keshava and Manjunath followed me on a bike. At Thalakere, one of them pulled out a machete and swung it at me. They missed. As I slowed down, they slashed my right hand.Before they could strike again, I took a U-turn and sped away till I reached a tea stall. When I stopped, I realized my hand had been chopped and I was soaked in blood. The people at the tea stall called an ambulance and shifted me to a hospital in Magadi and then to Bengaluru."

He has faced threats earlier on the job, but this is the first time it has taken such a violent turn. A complaint was lodged with Kudur police in Ramanagar district. When contacted, local police said the two contractors were absconding and a search is on. The incident, which occurred near Magadi on Monday evening, has left other MGNREGS officers shaken.

This is not the first time that an officer attached to MGNREGS has been attacked or threatened in Karnataka. Some time ago, Arun Kumar G, a 29-year-old engineering graduate and panchayat development officer in Mysuru district, committed suicide. In a five-page suicide note, he said he was mentally tortured for being honest.