Shiv Sena Slams Govt In Wake of Suicides in Mantralaya Building

“The secretariat has become a suicidal point,” the piece in Saamana read.

In the wake of suicide attempts in the Mantralaya building, the administrative headquarters of the state government of Maharashtra in South Mumbai, the Shiv Sena has slammed the government through an article in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

“The secretariat building is for governing the state but has become a suicidal point,” the piece in Saamana read.

Further, Hindustan Times quoted the article as saying that the state secretariat has even become a "graveyard of hopes and aspirations".

It looks like Mantralaya has become a cemetery. Mantralaya should be a reflection of the hopes and aspirations of its people, but it has become a graveyard of the same hopes and aspirations.

Saamana Article

Further criticising the state government, the Marathi daily said that it looks like many "lifeless and apathetic figures" are occupying chairs in the offices. “Some people’s representatives have erected selfie points in their constituencies, but Mantralaya has become a suicide point,” the Marathi daily was further quoted as saying.

In the last couple of months, there have been four suicide attempts at Mantralaya. The latest suicide being a 44-year-old murder convict who jumped off the fifth floor of the building on 8 February and died.

The editorial even accused the government of becoming "heartless". “Let alone projects of public welfare, people sitting there cannot even listen to complaints of the people,” it said.

• On 22 January this year, an 84-year-old farmer from Dhule district had consumed a poisonous chemical at the state secretariat, demanding better compensation for his land.
• On 8 February, a 44-year-old man committed suicide by jumping off the fifth floor of Mantralaya. He was convicted of killing his sister and had been out on parole since 10 January.
• On 2 February, a farmer was taken into custody after police found pesticide in his pocket during a search at the secretariat gate.
• In another incident, a 32-year-old aspirant of a government job had attempted suicide at the Mantralaya gate last week.

• On 10 November last year, a 28-year-old farmer from Osmanabad district had climbed on the parapet of the seventh floor of Mantralaya, demanding a slew of welfare measures for cultivators and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations. Police later managed to convince him to climb down from the building.
• In September 2016, a 30-year-old man from a slum in suburban Malad had tried to immolate himself in the main lobby of the secretariat building over an issue regarding his house.

The Maharashtra government has decided to upgrade security at the state secretariat after a string of suicide bids at the premises in the past a few months.

The government also wants to ensure that grievances of people, who come with their pleas to the secretariat, are heard and addressed so that they do not resort to attempting suicide at the place.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times.)