Mumbai/Navi Mumbai: A 37-year-old public works department (PWD) contractor died by suicide at his Navi Mumbai residence on Tuesday. According to Maharashtra State Contractors Federation and State Engineers Association, PWD had failed to clear his dues of Rs 2 crore for work he had completed despite multiple reminders.No suicide note was found at the residence. Ulwe police registered an accidental death report.The association said the contractor, Gajanan Bhujangrao Devkate, who lived in Ulwe’s Sector 5, had struggled to repay his bank loan as well as pay for labourers and hired machinery. “He wrote a number of times to the executive engineer of the department concerned seeking his payment, but the officer treated him and his letters very insultingly,” it claimed. It said it will launch a protest across the state in eight days if Devkate’s dues are not released to his family and action is not taken against the officials who dragged their feet on his payment.The association said contractors have been subjected to “immense financial and psychological torture” by authorities. Its state president, Milind Bhosale, said dues of Rs 86,000 crore are still pending, of which Rs 28,000 crore alone are from PWD. The association has written to CM Devendra Fadnavis and PWD minister Shivendraraje Bhonsale seeking the immediate release of these payments.The opposition slammed Mahayuti govt. “Year after year, fatigued by not receiving bills worth crores of rupees, Marathi contractors in the state have been driven to the brink of suicide by this govt. So far, six contractors have taken their own lives, and now, contractor Gajanan Devkate from Navi Mumbai has also ended his life,” said NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar. Alleging bias, he said payments running into crores of contractors from Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are promptly released. “No matter how many protests they stage or demands they make through constitutional means, govt does not pay the contractors’ bills. Therefore, why not file a culpable homicide charge against this govt for pushing them towards suicide?”Arjun Rajane, senior inspector, Ulwe police, said Devkate was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. “Subsequently, an accidental death report was filed.”
