Mumbai:
Driven to despair by the alleged delay in procuring a caste certificate, a tribal student committed suicide at his Vasai home on Tuesday. Shailesh Ramakant Surunda, 17, a class XI student, had a bright academic record. In July, he had applied for his caste certificate to secure his admission in a college and avail scholarship.
Surunda was found hanging from the ceiling fan by his parents on October 5. While the police have registered a case of accidental death and are investigating the matter, local MLA Vivek Pandit has put the blame squarely on the local sub-divisional office.
"A caste certificate is necessary to get an admission under the scheduled tribe (ST) quota and avail scholarship. The process should not take more than a week. However, it was delayed for months, leaving Surunda's admission in jeopardy. The student was frustrated after visiting the office on a regular basis," alleged Pandit.
Surunda was an intelligent student and had scored 75 %in his SSC. Though he had managed to get a seat in Vartak College under the ST quota, the admission was not confirmed without relevant documents.
Pandit said the student's mother, in her statement to the police, has claimed that he was upset over his inability to procure the certificate. "After the incident, even his younger brother attempted suicide but he was saved by the locals," added Pandit.
Demanding action against the errant officials, he said, "The officials claim that the certificate was ready on October 1, but the parents say that they did not receive it even on October 5. More than 1,500 applications from the ST community alone are pending at the office," alleged the MLA.
Thane rural superintendent of police Vishwas Nangre Patil confirmed the incident. "The collector's office has initiated a departmental inquiry to ascertain why there was delay in the matter. After we get their inquiry report, we would take further course of action," Patil told DNA.
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Surunda was found hanging from the ceiling fan by his parents on October 5. While the police have registered a case of accidental death and are investigating the matter, local MLA Vivek Pandit has put the blame squarely on the local sub-divisional office.
"A caste certificate is necessary to get an admission under the scheduled tribe (ST) quota and avail scholarship. The process should not take more than a week. However, it was delayed for months, leaving Surunda's admission in jeopardy. The student was frustrated after visiting the office on a regular basis," alleged Pandit.
Surunda was an intelligent student and had scored 75 %in his SSC. Though he had managed to get a seat in Vartak College under the ST quota, the admission was not confirmed without relevant documents.
Pandit said the student's mother, in her statement to the police, has claimed that he was upset over his inability to procure the certificate. "After the incident, even his younger brother attempted suicide but he was saved by the locals," added Pandit.
Demanding action against the errant officials, he said, "The officials claim that the certificate was ready on October 1, but the parents say that they did not receive it even on October 5. More than 1,500 applications from the ST community alone are pending at the office," alleged the MLA.
Thane rural superintendent of police Vishwas Nangre Patil confirmed the incident. "The collector's office has initiated a departmental inquiry to ascertain why there was delay in the matter. After we get their inquiry report, we would take further course of action," Patil told DNA.
Copyright restricted. Under license from http://www.3dsyndication.com/
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