Upset Saalumarada Thimmakka seeks to return cheque

Bengaluru: Green crusader Saalumarada Thimmakka has sought CM Siddaramaiah’s appointment to return a Rs 10 lakh cheque given to her towards her medical expenses. She said that the chief minister and his officials have failed to keep up the promises made to her, like the construction of a maternity hospital at Huliyur in Kunigal taluk and sanctioning of Rs 2 crore and 10 acres of land to her.

In a strongly worded letter dated December 29, 2017, she has urged the chief minister to identify real talent and not to be swayed by one’s caste.

Thimmakka's adopted son Saalumarada Umesh told Deccan Chronicle, “When achievers are alive they are not recognised and respected. But after they pass away, politicians religiously garland their idols and photos on their birth and death anniversaries. This cannot be justified, no matter which government is in power. Politicians to gain political mileage promise many things in full public view and fail to fulfil their promises.” Thimmakka has been hospitalised many times in the recent past. “No politician or official visited her and took care of her medical needs as promised,” he said.

Though two acres of land have been allotted for the construction of a maternity hospital at Thimmakka's Hulikal village in Magadi Taluk, the work is yet to begin. “The government had also promised her Rs 2 crore and 10 acres of land to her. Thimmakka did not request the government for money or land. It was the government which promised her these, but they have failed to fulfil promises made to her,” he said.

“Do the chief minister and his officials have such an attitude because Thimmakka is a Dalit? She has stopped receiving her old age pension of Rs 500 from the state government too. She has sought the chief minister’s appointment to hand over the cheque back to him as he has failed to keep up his word of fulfilling all promises by November 2017,” he said.