Howrah, January 25: The suicide of a state transport department employee Wednesday took a political turn with the opposition gunning for the West Bengal government for announcing withdrawal of subsidy from the transport department.
Bikram Singh, a group D employee of the Calcutta Tramways company, committed suicide at his home in Rishra in Hooghly district Wednesday, police said.
Singh’s colleagues and family members said he had not received salary for the last five months and was “very depressed following the announcement of the subsidy withdrawal”.
Blaming the government’s decision to withdraw subsidy for Singh’s the death, Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary Manju Kumar Mazumdar said the move could result in more such deaths.
“First, there were farmer suicides and now this. When the government decides to revoke subsidy, such cases are bound to happen. If the subsidies are withdrawn from important sectors, how will they perform? In such a scenario, more deaths may happen,” Mazumdar said.
Transport Minister Madan Mitra Tuesday said: “The government is incurring losses of Rs.600 crore annually to provide subsidy to the ailing five transport corporations with nearly 18,000 employees.”
“It is absolutely impossible for the state government to provide the ailing corporations with annual subsidies to meet salary needs of surplus workers.”
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Surjakanta Misra described the situation as alarming. “The government needs to ensure the safety and security of the workers of various fields as it is getting alarming.”
The government Wednesday clarified that the subsidy will not be immediately withdrawn. “The government is looking into the issue and will revoke the subsidy from the state transport departments in a phased manner,” Mitra said at the state secretariat Writers’ Buildings.
—IANS—