Vishwas Harmalkar killed himself and those who responsible for this “killing”continue to be government servants, holding positions in the PWD. But they werejust officials taking orders or more accurately following a rotten system inthe PWD, where no one blinks when you talk of kickbacks.
Harmalkars case, narrated toThe Goan by someone in the senior most echelons of officialdom is cruel. Andthis version hasn’t and will never find its way in any inquiry report. The version: “Harmalkar was a senior contractor who was used to the ways of thePWD. For a particular project, it was understood that he had to pay a“kickback” of Rs 25 lakhs. An advance of Rs 21 lakhs was promptly released toenable him to pay the kickback by adding Rs 4 lakhs from his own kitty. Whenwork commenced and he raised the first set of bills, the department started“adjusting” from the advance of Rs 21 lakhs it had paid. In effect, Harmalkargot paid nothing. When the advances got adjusted he asked for balance paymentswhich too were not paid which led to him not completing the work on time,”
This is the way thedepartment would often function. Get the kickback and then get work to stop,by not paying bills forcing the contractor to raise his hands and giving thedepartment an excuse not to pay further. Harmalkar was just one suicide victim.But there are several who feel suicidal. This is the raw, un-doctored story.Now let’s look at what the inquiry on his suicide concluded.
The magisterial report of theAdditional Collector North Goa Amarsen Rane is 40 pages long. The Goan, in itssubsequent issue will look at events which led to the suicide. Here we lookonly at one telling paragraph on page 34 of the report, which deals with theoverall damning conclusion. “It is apparent that on account ofharassment caused to the contractor Vishwas Harmalkar at the instance of thePWD, delay in preparation of the running account bills and the consequent delayin the payment of dues to the contractor, has contributed to the mentalagony of Vishwas Harmalkar, which ultimately compelled him to commit suicide”
Finally Amarsen Rane’sdamning indictment was telling. “Therefore the responsibility needs to be fixedon the following persons namely Mr Raju Pandit, Executive Engineer; Mr AllanPereira, Assistant Engineer and Mr Mahesh Kenaudekar, Technical Assistant.”
The Goan will treat this as acriminal case. This is not just about corruption and its affects. It is aboutan innocent man forced to kill himself, under pressure applied by the acts ofGovernment servants. They should be tried for this.
Your paper will fightfor Justice for Vishwas Harmalkar. Write in with your feelings, thoughts andmost importantly your suggestions for a call to action. Email [email protected] with the subject line ‘Justice for VishwasHarmalkar.’
