THANJAVUR: A farmer who came to the grievance redressal meeting held in the collectorate on Monday created a flutter by trying to self-immolate. On Monday, District Collector M Govinda Rao was receiving petitions from people and there was a long queue.
M Vivekanandan (50) of Naduvikkottai took out a bottle of petrol and poured it over himself. Police pulled him out of the meeting hall and poured water over him. Police enquiries revealed Vivekanandan had applied for a loan from a nationalised bank in Pattukkottai to set up a dairy. The bank did not offer the quantum of loan he sought. On Monday, he came to petition the collector and also carried a bottle of petrol. He sneaked into the collectorate, managing to bypass police checks. Police took him to Tamil University police station on a bike after his self-immolation attempt.
Meanwhile, a group of sanitation workers led by P Jesudass, general secretary, Thanjavur District Rural Development Workers Association, handed over a petition to the collector demanding a minimum wage of `385 per day for those working in Aduthurai, Tirubuvanam, Tiruvidaimarudur, Tirunageswaram and Veppathur town panchayats and Kumbakonam and Pattukkottai municipalities. They said workers were being paid in the range of `150 to `250.