AURANGABAD: A senior accountant working with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme in Nanded district sent a letter to the district collector seeking permission to tie horse on the premises of the collector’s office.
Satish Deshmukh, the revenue staffer, in his application stated that he was suffering from back pain and spondylosis and coming to the office on a two-wheeler was adding to the existing pain.
In his application, Deshmukh wrote: “I have decided to purchase a horse. Riding the horse, I will reach the office on time. May I please be granted permission to tie the horse on the office premises.”
Though later Deshmukh withdrew his application, his letter sparked off a social media storm of funny memes, posts, captions etc. Soon after the letter was given to the inward section of the Nanded district collector’s office, it had gone viral. Some netizens believed that since Deshmukh was a government employee, he could not openly protest against the government for the rising fuel prices and, therefore, he might have decided to purchase a horse.
When contacted, district collector Dr Vipin Itankar confirmed that he had indeed received such a letter. “Being an MBBS graduate myself, I will never recommend a person with back pain or spondylosis to opt for horse riding as the galloping will only aggravate his condition.”
Itankar said though there is no illegality in the application, he was still curious to know what exactly prompted Deshmukh to write such an application. He said that Deshmukh had eventually withdrawn the application.
Revenue staffers said Deshmukh was a punctual employee and has a good track record. Deshmukh himself could not be reached for a comment.