'Denied' loan, man sets himself on fire outside bank in UP
Gonda (UP) (PTI): A man on Wednesday set himself on fire outside a bank here and his family alleged that he tried self-immolation because his loan was not sanctioned.
Twenty-five-year-old Divyaraj Pandey sustained 70 per cent burn injuries and was in critical condition, police said, adding that he has been taken to Lucknow for treatment.
Pandey's friend Pradeep too sustained burn injuries and is in a hospital.
The State Bank of India (SBI) said no loan application from Pandey was pending.
According to police, Pandey, who is a resident of Sarhara Pandey Purwa in Itiyathok area, immolated himself using petrol from his motorcycle.
Pandey and his friend Pradeep sustained burn injuries and were rushed to a hospital, Station House Officer of City Kotwali Police Station Sanjay Kumar said.
Pandey's family members alleged that he had applied for a loan to start an RO water plant but the bank officials were not sanctioning his loan due to which he took the drastic step.
The regional manager of the SBI branch in front of Kotwali, Gyan Prakash, denied the allegations levelled by Pandey's family.
In a statement issued here, Prakash said an unknown person tried to do an "illegal act" in front of the bank.
"No matter related to his loan was with the bank," Prakash said.
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BJP stages walkout in Karnataka assembly over 'non-disbursal' of Gruha Lakshmi payout
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The opposition BJP on Wednesday staged a walkout from the Karnataka assembly protesting the alleged "non-disbursal" of two months' installments to 1.26 crore beneficiaries under a woman's assistance scheme of the state government.
The protest followed a heated debate in which the opposition accused the state government of providing "misleading" information regarding the payment status of the flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme.
The saffron party members trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans, leading to the adjournment of the proceedings of the House for over an hour.
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The Gruha Lakshmi guarantee scheme is one of the five pre-poll promises of the ruling Congress. It provides Rs 2,000 monthly to women heads of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
The BJP legislators accused Woman and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar of having "misled" the House by giving false information to BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginkai that all the instalments till August have been paid under the scheme.
The opposition charged that the installments for the months of February and March this year were not paid.
The BJP MLAs' grouse was that they had been demanding an explanation from the Minister for the past three days, but she never turned up to provide information.
As soon as the session started, the opposition members trooped into the well of the House demanding the Minister's presence, which led to the adjournment.
When the members assembled again, the Minister replied that this is a unique flagship programme of the Congress government, which is a model for all the states.
Hebbalkar said she always strived to ensure that this scheme is implemented religiously.
"However, when I checked, I noticed that two months' installments were not paid to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). If my reply has hurt anyone, then I express my regret," she said.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who came to the defence of Hebbalkar, said the BJP should apologise for the lie in the Union Budget.
"Despite the Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Irrigation Project in the budget, the money was not given to Karnataka. You should question that as well," Shivakumar underlined.
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To this, Leader of Opposition in the assembly R Ashoka said the matter was raised because not only were the BJP members hurt but also the 1.26 crore beneficiaries who were eagerly waiting for the money.
Demanding that the lie be expunged from the House records, he insisted on a date for when the backlog will be paid to the beneficiaries.
The Minister said she was apologising for giving a wrong reply, but she was peeved at the way a woman was targeted in the House.
Objecting to this statement, BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar asked her to refrain from playing victim card and bring up the issue of gender, caste and religious discrimination as it was a matter related to 1.26 crore people.
Ashoka and the BJP MLAs then staged a walkout, saying the Minister's reply was not satisfactory.
