Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Septuagenarian dies in VMC office

VIJAYAWADA: A caretaker of a reading room of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC), who has been running from pillar to post to get five months of dues of his monthly honorarium, died in the VMC corridors on Tuesday, triggering criticism by the opposition parties about the “apathy” of the officialdom towards such low-paid staff.

The septuagenarian Bandi Abraham, who was working as caretaker of the reading room attached to Gujjala Sarala Devi Kalyana Mandapam in Ajit Singh Nagar, was stated to be knocking on the doors of the officials for payment of a meagre honorarium of Rs.750 a month for the last five months.

On Tuesday, Abraham visited the VMC office along with his wife Santhamma to enquire about his dues. When he was told that the officials concerned were busy and he should come some other day, he immediately collapsed and breathed his last near the Commissioner’s chamber on the first floor. “Unable to cope with these words, he collapsed and died,” said Santhamma.

She said that the Corporation had not been paying her husband the paltry sum for the last five months due to which the entire family was suffering. Abraham was always worried as he was unable to meet both ends meet. “He would have survived had the Corporation paid the salary in time,” she said.

The opposition parties, which said that it was a ‘Black Day’ in the VMC history, pointed out that they had raised the issue of non-payment of minimum wages to caretakers in the VMC general body meetings. Neither the ruling Congress nor the officials responded. It was unfortunate that the Corporation had not been able to pay even the meagre honorarium every month.

CPI (M) floor leader Ch. Babu Rao, CPI floor leader D. Sankar, TDP corporator Gogula Ramana Rao and others visited the spot.

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