Daijiworld Media Network - Mysuru (SP)

Mysuru, Aug 21: Nananjangud taluk medical officer, Dr S R Nagendra, ended his life at his residence here on Thursday August 20. Dr Nagendra had come in for lavish praise and felicitation recently for having sincerely served the patients in spite of tremendous work pressure.

Medical officers and other health department employees, accusing the zilla panchayat (ZP) chief executive officer (CEO) as being responsible for Nagendra’s death, held a protest in front of the office of the district health officer, duly placing the body of the deceased medical officer there. They demanded for the immediate suspension of the ZP CEO. They said that Nagendra had worked very hard, staying away from his family since the last six months, and without taking any leave.

Dr Nagendra

Former president of Doctors Association, Dr Raveendra, speaking on the occasion, said that ZP CEO Prashanth Kumar Mishra, by deriding the medical officer over phone in an abusive language, had abetted this suicide. The protesters demanded the suspension of the CEO till the investigation is completed. Post-mortem of the body was conducted and the protest continued till nightfall. The health department officials of Mysuru, Mandya, Kodagu and Chamarajanagar districts said that they will not work unless in emergency cases till action is taken against the ZP CEO Prashanth Kumar Mishra.

The state government has announced Rs 50 lac compensation to the bereaved family. Chief minister B S Yediyurappa, has ordered for investigation into the reasons for the medical officer taking this extreme step. He took this decision on the basis of the request made by Karnataka Government Employees Association, besides instructing the regional commissioner here to complete investigation and file report within seven days. He also passed an order to provide job to the dependents of the doctor's family government job on compassionate grounds and to see that facilities for which the family is eligible are disbursed at the earliest.

The deceased medical officer had recently been felicitated by the MLA for his excellent services. He bought milk and newspaper in the morning before hanging himself at his residence at Alanahalli here on Thursday morning. He was from Talakadu, and is survived by parents, wife, and a seven-year-old daughter.

The taluk was given the target for conducting the test 100 times the number of positive cases found in the taluk. It is said that higher officers were threatening to send officials failing to reach the target to jail under the Disaster Management Act. It is said that the officer was given a dressing down recently for not reaching the target. Nagendra is said to have been undergoing depression as he felt that higher officials were harassing him without providing necessary staff and other facilities. He also had sent SMSs to his friends and colleagues, expressing a sense of helplessness, said his maternal uncle Shivashankare Gowda. He said that the higher officials who threatened a good officer like Nagendra are responsible for his death.