An assistant grade employee of the Madhya Pradesh government was suspended on Thursday on charges of showing 'insensitivity' and being 'negligent' towards an elderly farmer who rolled on the floor of Mandsaur district collectorate to protest alleged land grabbing, an official said.
In a video widely shared on social media, the assistant grade 3 employee, Rajesh Vijayawargiya, is seen just walking along the rolling farmer, Shankarlal, a resident of Sakhtali village, on Tuesday and not trying to intervene or hear his grievances.
Vijayawargiya failed in his duties by not preventing the cultivator from rolling on the floor and not supporting him and bringing him to the collector's meeting room. This attitude reflected his 'insensitivity' as a public servant, Mandsaur collector Dileep Kumar Yadav said.
Vijaywargiya, instead of showing sensitivity towards the rolling farmer or bringing him before the collector for an audience, just walked inside the meeting room and sat on a chair, Yadav said in his suspension order.
'By walking along with the rolling farmer and not making any attempt to prevent him from doing so reflects Vijaywargiya's negligence, insensitivity and indifference towards his duties as a government servant which has sullied the image of the administration,' the collector noted.
In view of his behaviour, the assistant grade 3 staffer is placed under suspension with immediate effect under relevant sections of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services Conduct Rules and Regulations, according to the order.
The farmer undertook the 'rolling' protest after alleging that the district administration did not address his grievance of illegal occupation of his land in his native village, a charge denied by officials on Wednesday.
The farmer alleged his land was taken away fraudulently by the land mafia in connivance with government officials.
As no one listened to his complaint during a public hearing organised by the administration on Tuesday, he decided to roll on the floor of the collector's office in protest, Shankarlal said in the video.
Collector Yadav, however, rejected the land grabbing allegations on Wednesday.
In an official release, he said, as per findings, no person/land mafia has occupied the land in question.
Acting on Shankarlal's complaint received during the hearing, Yadav said a report was sought from the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and tehsildar. It was found that Shankarlal and his family members jointly own 3.52 hectares of land.
One of the joint owners, Sampat Bai, sold her share of the land to one Ashwin Deshmukh in 2010 but the buyer has not yet taken possession of it, the release said.
On the contrary, the release said, Shankarlal was not only found to be possessing the land belonging to him but also occupying the part owned by Sampat Bai.
As per the SDM, no person or land mafia has occupied the land in question, the collector said.
If the administration receives any complaint of illegal possession of the said land, it will take action as per legal provisions, Yadav said in the release.
After the video of Shankarlal's rolling protest surfaced, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari demanded action against officials involved in the matter and justice for the farmer.
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