Slain BJYM worker Praveen Nettaru’s wife Nutana Kumari re-instated in govt job as ‘special case’

Considering this as a special case, Nutana Kumari will be re-appointed on humanitarian grounds: Chief Minister Siddaramiah.

ByBellie Thomas

Published May 29, 2023 | 8:08 AMUpdatedMay 29, 2023 | 8:08 AM

Praveen Nettaru wife

A day after the late Bharatiya Janatha Yuva Morcha (BJYM) worker Praveen Nettaru’s wife lost her job due to the change of government in Karnataka, newly-elected Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reinstated the job on humanitarian grounds.

“Considering this as a special case, Nutana Kumari will be re-appointed on humanitarian grounds,” said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as the Opposition BJP began a vociferous protest against the termination of her employment.

“After a new government is formed, it is a natural process to dismiss the temporary employees who have been appointed by the previous government from government service,” Siddaramaiah stated in a tweet in Kannada on Saturday, 27 May.

“Not only Praveen Nettaru’s wife, more than 150 contract workers have already been dismissed from service. There is no government interference in this.”

Siddaramaiah, however, added: “Considering this as a special case, Kumari will be re-appointed on humanitarian grounds.”

Related: SDPI fields Nettaru murder-accused Shafi Bellare in Puttur

The BJP protest

This development came after a protest by BJP leaders like state party chief Nalin Kumar Kateel, who described Kumari’s termination as “vendetta” and “appeasement” politics.

Kateel, MP of Dakshina Kannada, had said he would appeal to Siddaramaiah for Kumari’s continuation in her job. If the state government refused Kumari her job, Kateel said she would be provided temporary employment in one of the Union government establishments in Mangaluru, such as the New Mangalore Port Trust.

Kateel accused the Congress of engaging in “vindictive and appeasement politics”.

“I will write a letter to the chief minister, and if the government denies the request, temporary employment would be arranged for her in any of the Union government establishments in Mangaluru, such as the New Mangalore Port Trust,” he said.

Related: NIA arrests absconding accused in Nettaru murder case in Bengaluru

Terms of the employment

According to sources, the late Praveen Nettaru’s wife Nutana Kumari received her employment termination order on Friday.

State government officials clarified that Kumari’s job was terminated in the natural course of the change of government.

As she (Kumari) was hired on compassionate grounds on a contract basis during the tenure of the BJP government led by former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, the contract employment would cease to exist when Bommai leaves office, a source in government told South First.

The employment offer letter issued to Kumari states that the tenure would last until the chief minister’s term or until further notice, the source added.

Related: What NIA charge sheet in Praveen Nettaru murder case says

Kumari was one of 57 people who were hired on a contractual basis to Group-C posts at the office of the chief minister.

Bommai had issued the order, on the request of Kateel, on 22 September, 2022, appointing Kumari as a senior assistant (Group-C) at his office.

However, on Kumari’s request, she was later posted at the Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner’s Office, where she reported for duty on 14 October.

Related: 15 arrested in connection with Praveen Nettaru murder case

The Nettaru killing

Praveen Nettaru (31), was a leader of the youth wing of the BJP in Sullia taluk of Dakshina Kannada district in Coastal Karnataka.

He was murdered in Bellare town on July 26, 2022, allegedly by members of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI). The murder case is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The BJP’s Karnataka unit attacked the newly-elected Congress government in a social media post.

“Praveen Nettaru was killed by members of the PFI, a terrorist organisation nurtured by the Congress that spreads communal hatred. His wife was given a job by our government in the Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Mangaluru on compassionate grounds. That the Congress government has begun using its politics of hatred is condemnable. We demand the government to immediately withdraw the inhuman dismissal order,” the state BJP posted on its official Twitter handle.