Hyderabad: Inquiries revealed that district officials had ordered financial aid as far back as September 2013 to Mr Banoth Nagarjuna, who had attempted suicide near the Chief Minister’s Office on Thursday along with his family members.
The Nalgonda Collector had directed officials of Modified Area Development Approach to sanction financial aid to Mr Nagarjuna under the Economic Support Schemes. This was after a report from tahsildar of Mothe that he was eligible for the financial aid. The money never reached Mr Nagarjuna.
The order of financial aid was made after Mr Nagarjuna submitted a petition to the Mothe tahsildar who conducted an inquiry and submitted a report to the Collector. It said that Mr Nagarjuna did not own any agricultural land and was making a livelihood by working as a farm labourer. During the inquiry, the tahsildar found that Nagarjuna's son who was five years old then, had a heart problem from the time he was a six-month-old baby but due to his financial position, Nagarjuna could not afford the treatment of his son.
Mr Nagarjuna, an SSC pass-out, had two children and was looking after the children of his sister and brother-in-law also.
The Collector endorsed the report to the project officer MADA on September 27, 2013, in which he wrote, “To extend any financial assistance under Economic Support Schemes.”
Asked why Mr Nagarjuna had not received aid, revenue officials said they were not aware of the collector’s orders. They said that Mr Nagarjuna owned three acres of agricultural land, which he had inherited from his father, and two buffaloes. Of his children, Navya was studying in Class VIII (in September 2013) under the Economic Support Schemes in Chivvemla in Nalgonda district and Mr Srinivas was doing Intermediate in Mothe. He had received a house from Indiramma Housing scheme and all the bills were cleared more than a year ago. Even his late sister's daughter, whom he was taking care of, was well settled, they said.
"Except for his son's health which requires to be treated, he has no financial problems. We are trying to get more details from the villagers", said investigating officials, adding that that he had not approached any local authorities before going to Hyderabad.
