Declared dead on paper, elderly man struggles to prove he is alive | Patna News

Keshav Mishra, a 78-year-old, finds himself in the unusual position of having to prove his existence after a bureaucratic blunder mistakenly declared him deceased. For five long months, his old-age pension has been suspended, leaving him in distress. At a recent district meeting, he emotionally sought assistance, highlighting the urgency of his situation.

Bettiah: A 78-year-old man from West Champaran district has spent the past five months moving from one govt office to another to prove a simple fact — that he is still alive — after an alleged error in official records led to the suspension of his old-age pension.The matter surfaced on Thursday during the district administration’s “Prashasan Aapke Dwar” programme on the Bagaha-1 block premises, where the elderly man broke down while pleading with officials to restore his pension.The man, Keshav Mishra, a resident of Jaini Tola in Englishia panchayat under Bagaha, said his pension was stopped after he was mistakenly declared dead in official records.“I am alive, but the system has declared me dead. Because of this mistake, my old-age pension has been stopped for the last five months,” Mishra said.He added that he has been visiting the panchayat office and block office repeatedly in an attempt to get the error corrected, but has not received any relief so far.Mishra alleged that the mistake occurred due to the “arbitrary actions” of Vikas Mitra Shobha Kumari, who, he claimed, was responsible for showing him as deceased in the records.However, Kumari described the incident as an unintentional mistake, saying the problem occurred due to a technical error. She assured that steps were being taken to correct the records at the earliest.Taking serious note of the issue, DM Taranjot Singh, who was present at the programme, directed the ADM to ensure that the matter is resolved at the earliest and that Mishra’s pension benefits are restored.