Suicide bid by colleague triggers stir

Many senior government officers were stranded in their offices one night last week. Their drivers had proceeded on a flash strike after a suicide attempt by one of them.

The snap strike was called on Thursday to highlight how running errands for senior government babus and
their families late into the night was adding to the drivers' stress.

The suicide was attempted by N R Anand, driver of the commissioner of survey settlement and land records, Rajiv Chawla, after he was allegedly humiliated and threatened with a transfer.

Anand addressed a two-page suicide note to the governor, saying the incident that had affected him was of January 23, when he was returning home after dropping Chawla at his residence.

Anand stated in his letter, "Chawla's son, Jayanth handed over a shoe cover to me and told me to return the same at a shoe store at Brigade Road and get the money back."

Anand returned the shoes and got a refund of Rs 2,200 and, without returning the money to Chawla, he went to Dharmasthala on some emergency.

On his return, since he was off from work that day, Anand gave the money to his colleague Eshwar, to be handed over to Chawla.

"I did not count the money before giving it to Eshwar," Anand said in his letter.

On January 27, Chawla summoned him and allegedly called him a thief, accusing him of stealing Rs 1,120 from
the amount he had received from the shoe store and threatening to transfer him to Gulbarga.

A humiliated Anand decided to take the extreme step, apologising to the Governor for it. In his letter, Anand alleged that Chawla harassed 'D' group employees and car drivers unnecessarily.

Citing examples, Anand said the drivers had to pick up officials early in the morning and return home late in the night after dropping the officers at their residence.

As the vehicle is also to be left at the officers' place, the drivers are left with no mode of transport for the journey home.

"We neither get transport nor security and by the time we go home it is midnight. Apart from this, we drivers are also forced to do household chores," said the letter.

Anand further said in his letter that Chawla has recently issued a circular directing the staff to work even on holidays and when Raju, a driver went to seek clarification he was not only snapped humiliated but also threatened to transfer him.