Another suicide bid at Maharashtra secretariat building

Mumbai: A youth hailing from Dhule in north Maharashtra today attempted suicide at the entrance of Mantralaya, the latest such incident at the state secretariat building here in last several months. Baban Yashwant Zote had poured kerosene over his body and was about to set himself on fire when police nabbed him, a senior official said. Zote decided to end his life to protest alleged corruption in the recruitment process in Dhule Municipal Corporation, the official said. The Dhule resident had written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on April 3, seeking a probe in the scheduled caste (SC) recruitment drive held in 1989 in the civic body. 

Zote claimed that "genuine" candidates were deprived of jobs and instead, kin of corporators were recruited through unscrupulous means, the official said. Zote was handed over to the Marine Drive police station, the official said. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement that Zote's claim was misleading and against the decision of the high court. The Dhule corporation was updated about Zote's claims. His demands were invalid, stated the CMO. The CMO had sought a report from Dhule corporation which stated that then Dhule council chairman had recruited 33 SC candidates (March 1990), including Zote, on a temporary basis, which was rejected by the divisional commissioner, it said. 

The then Council chairman had appealed to the minister of state for urban development in office that time, but did not get any response, it said. This resulted in Dhule corporation sacking all 33 employees, including Zote, in July 2001, as per the statement. Zote then approached the industrial court against Dhule corporation's action in 2014. The industrial court's decision went in favour of Zote, which was challenged by the corporation again in the high court, it said, adding that the HC directed to stay the industrial court's order. The latest suicide attempt comes after a a 56-year-old labourer tried to end his life outside the state seat of power in March. The labourer, Gulab Maruti Shingari, hailing from Beed district in drought-prone Marathwada region, had claimed that he decided to end his life as the "police patil" in his village tried to usurp his land, a police official said. 

In February, a 45-year-old man committed suicide by jumping off the fifth floor of Mantralaya, after which the BJP-led state government set up a safety net covering the open space on the first floor of the seven-storey building. Harshal Raote, a murder convict on parole, jumped to death from the fifth floor, days after a 32-year-old unemployed man attempted suicide outside the building. On January 22, 84-year-old Dhule farmer Dharma Patil consumed poison in Mantralaya premises, demanding adequate compensation for his land, which had been acquired by the government for a solar power project. He died in hospital on January 28.