Nashik school employee in dire straits takes own life

An employee of Nashik’s Barnes School and Junior College, who had been on strike with 93 other employees for the last eight months over better salaries, committed suicide on the institute’s campus on Wednesday.

The deceased, Chinnappa Mandri (45), was employed as a chef in the residential school and was in dire straits, as he had not received his salary. He hanged himself from a tree on the campus. One Avinash Gaikwad filed a suicide case with the Deolali Camp police station after Mandri’s body was discovered.

Senior police inspector V.P. Lokare said that a suicide case had been registered and further investigations were on.

Speaking to The Asian Age, Shiv Sena deputy leader and ex MLA Baban Gholap said, “The employees were working sincerely and were demanding minimum wages as per the labour laws. Even if the school is not aided, there are certain laws to be followed.”

He further said the institution was behaving as a monopoly. “The issue has escalated because of the stubborn attitude of the principal, who refuses to discuss anything. We want strict action, or we will be forced to close the school legally,” Mr Gholap said.

School principal Julian Luke was unavailable for comment. He refused to accept calls or to give the management’s version on WhatsApp. No other school official was available for comment.

Barnes School is a private co-educational school established by the Bombay Education Society in 1925. The list of impressive alumni include veteran actor Dilip Kumar and Air Marshal Anil Tipnis.