Sangli | Correspondent
The tragic suicide of young contractor Harshal Patil, who allegedly took a loan of ₹80 lakh to complete work under the government’s Jal Jeevan Mission but did not receive a pending bill of ₹1.4 crore, has sparked sharp criticism of the government. However, the case has now taken a new twist.
The Sangli Zilla Parishad and Maharashtra Minister Gulabrao Patil have both claimed that Harshal Patil was not a registered government contractor. According to them, he may have taken up the work as a sub-contractor. The Zilla Parishad stated that there is no official record of Harshal Patil as a government contractor, and no contract documents related to the Jal Jeevan Mission exist in their records. Minister Patil supported this claim.
These statements have angered Harshal Patil’s family and residents of his native village, Tandulwadi in Walwa taluka. They have accused the administration and the minister of rubbing salt in the wounds of the grieving family. There is growing demand for Gulabrao Patil’s resignation and strict legal action against him.
Harshal Patil, a young contractor from Tandulwadi, had undertaken a water supply project under the Jal Jeevan Mission, installing pipelines to provide drinking water to the village. To fund the work, he borrowed ₹80 lakh. When the government delayed the payment of his ₹1.4 crore bill, he reportedly took an additional ₹65 lakh loan to repay earlier debts. Still unable to recover the pending amount, Patil, overwhelmed by debt, died by suicide.
While opposition leaders have blamed the government for his death, the claims by the Zilla Parishad and the minister have added a controversial dimension to the case.
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