PATHANAMTHITTA: The education department has initiated strict action following the suicide of a 47-year-old man from Athikkayam, Ranni, due to financial stress stemming from alleged bureaucratic negligence and a 14-year delay in payment of the salary of his wife, a schoolteacher.
Pending investigation, the Pathanamthitta District Education Office has suspended three officials – office PA N G Anilkumar, superintendent S Firoz, and section clerk R Bini – for their failure to process and release the dues. Additionally, the Director of General Education has directed the school management to suspend the headmistress of the institution until the inquiry is completed.
The deceased, V T Shijo, a field staff member in the agriculture department, was found hanging in the Moongampara forest, around two kilometres away from his residence on Sunday evening. According to family members, Shijo was under immense mental and financial strain after failing to arrange the fees required for his son’s admission to an engineering college in Erode, Tamil Nadu.
Shijo’s wife, Lekha Raveendran, a teacher at an aided school in Naranamuzhi, has reportedly not received her salary for the past 14 years.
The Kerala High Court, in a judgment dated November 26, 2024, had approved the appointment of Lekha Raveendran to a UPST post at the school under certain conditions and instructed the District Education Officer to disburse her salary and benefits within three months. The government had followed up with a formal order in January this year.
Despite these directives, the Director of General Education reported that the district officials neither acted on the salary arrears nor took further steps on the matter.
Meanwhile, Shijo’s father, T Thyagarajan, a retired bank employee, alleged that officials at the District Educational Office (DEO) failed to implement the court’s directives due to improper documentation and bureaucratic delay. Thyagarajan accused the DEO of ignoring the High Court order despite repeated follow-ups, even after intervention from the Education Minister’s office.