Nandi Balasatyanarayana, Magistrate of the local Second Special Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, has turned into a whistle-blower for his monthly honorarium to be released by the Department of Treasuries.
Taking the top brass of the West Godavari district administration by surprise, he appeared at the weekly official grievance redress programme, seeking solution to his grievance on Monday. He complained to Collector Bhaskar Katamneni that he was not receiving his salary in time for his reluctance to grease the palms of the personnel in the Treasury Department.
He informed that he had been running from the pillar to the post for the last three weeks to get his December salary which was supposed to have been credited into his bank account on the first day of the month itself. The Collector cautioned the District Treasury Officer, who was also present at the programme, over the complaints of red tape and corruption in his department, while instructing him to clear the bills immediately. “However, my pay is not yet credited into my account even a day after the Collector’s instructions,” he told The Hindu.
Empathising with the Magistrate’s plight, the Collector admitted that complaints were galore that most of the personnel in the Treasury Department were demanding bribe percentage-wise according to the hidden ‘rate card’ for sanction of bills .
Mr. Balasatyanarayana is a senior practicing lawyer, who also served as the Chairperson of the Eluru Municipal Council during 1985-86 prior to his appointment as the Magistrate with the monthly honorarium of Rs 10,000. The State government is reportedly allocating funds during annual budget and that he receives his salary once or twice in a year. Mr. Satyanarayana received seven months’ pay in November last.