A senior citizen tried to commit suicide in front of the Aluva Taluk Supply Office on Saturday. Abrurahman poured petrol over himself for not getting his BPL card, after many attempts to avail one.
"I haven't got ration in a year. They would tell me to get it from the ration shop. But the shopkeeper would not give me ration. I now have both my old card and a new card," says the old man to media, after his attempt to take his life was prevented by people who had gathered at the supply office.
"He was angry that his card was not converted to BPL. For some time now, we have not been issuing BPL cards. But I have made a special request in his case and the report is now ready from the Collectorate," Anil Kumar, Aluva Taluk Supply Officer, told TNM.
Abdurahman had come a week earlier too and threatened to commit suicide, Anil says. "He thinks I can give him the card and that am not doing it. But it is not with me. The report has gone to the district supply office and it should come back soon. It takes time for these things, but he is not ready to wait."
Abdurahman has reportedly waited for two years, having given his request and followed it up many times. He lives in a porampokku (places for shared communal use). And after many attempts, he got his new card but it came as an APL one. He and his aged wife cannot avail medical benefits without a BPL card.
The elderly man was however not arrested for the attempt to take his life. "There is no case. He did that to get his APL card converted to BPL. We took him home," said a policeman at the Aluva police station.