Rajnandgaon:
In a shocking case of apathy, a collector in Chhattisgarh rejected a farmer's application requesting permission to end his life saying he does not need the administration's permission to kill himself.
"Die if you want to die, don't seek our permission," Collector Ashok Agarwal told Rameshwar Banjare, who has been trying to avail compensation for a piece of 2.5 acres land in Khutera, which has gone barren because of the pollutants from a nearby solvent company. Mr Banjare tried to submit the letter addressed to the President to the Mr Agarwal at a public hearing which the Collector was chairing.
"The pollutants from Kamal solvent has made my two acre land barren, the village accountant has sent his assessment of losses to the administration but I have not got any compensation yet," Mr Banjare told NDTV.
After the public hearing, the Collector, possibly realising the repercussions of his reaction, assured all possible help to the farmer. "It would not be right for us to accept a memorandum to permit suicide. We have already sent a team to his village to look into his problems," he said.