‘Let me die with family’: Contractor awaiting dues from Bengal govt, writes to President, CM

The government official says dues not cleared due to paucity of funds.

After waiting for years for the West Bengal government to clear his unpaid bills amounting to around Rs one crore, accrued since 2015, a civil construction contractor has sought permission from President Ramnath Kovind and chief minister Mamata Banerjee to die by suicide with his family.

Jayanta Pramanik says he is finding it difficult to feed his family due to unpaid bills.(HT Photo)

The incident became one of the talking points in Malda district on Sunday.

Jayanta Pramanik, the contractor who hails from the Pandalpara area of Chanchol sub-division in Malda, said, “In 2015-16, I constructed the bungalow of the sub-divisional officer of Chanchol. Later, I carried out several other construction works at the same site. The executive engineer’s office took Rs 10 lakh from me as security deposit. The PWD office neither paid me for the work, nor has released the security deposit.”

That’s not all; he added that bills for work done in 2019 were also unpaid.

“Around the Lok Sabha election in 2019, I carried out some infrastructure development projects but till now, the SDO’s office has not cleared the bills which amount to Rs 45 lakh,” Pramanik said.

The contractor claimed that he had to borrow money at high interest rates to carry out the projects. “The lenders are pressuring me to repay. I have already sold my wife’s jewelry to raise money. I cannot even provide two square meals a day to my two daughters, my wife and my elder brother. I can’t bear their pain anymore and have appealed to the President and the CM to let us end our lives.”

Pramanik alleged that on July 7, the SDO seized his car when he went to the latter’s office and insisted that his dues be cleared.