Berhampur: An elderly woman in Odisha’s Ganjam district died allegedly after consuming pesticide, reportedly due to depression over not receiving her old-age pension for the last three months, family members claimed Tuesday.
The deceased has been identified as 66-year-old widow B Sabitri Dora of Chadheyapada village under Beguniapada block in the district.
The incident took place Sunday but came to light Tuesday.
“My mother was living alone in the house after the marriage of her three daughters. She was totally dependent on her monthly pension of Rs 1,000 and 5 kg rice under the food security scheme,” B Chandi Dora, one of her daughters, said.
She alleged that her mother had been repeatedly visiting the bank to check whether the pension amount had been credited.
“My mother might have died by consuming pesticides as she did not get the pension for the last three months,” she alleged.
Beguniapada Block Development Officer Sunil Kumar Samant said the woman was a beneficiary under the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension scheme and had last received her pension in March.
“After getting information of her death, I have asked the panchayat executive officer to conduct a preliminary inquiry,” the BDO said, describing the incident as “unfortunate”.
“Though the elderly woman died, we are not sure about the cause of her death,” he said, adding that the administration was awaiting the post-mortem examination report to ascertain the exact cause. The autopsy was conducted at MKCG Medical College and Hospital.
An official said over 1.49 lakh beneficiaries under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) in Ganjam district have not received their monthly pensions for the last three months, reportedly due to technical issues.
Under the scheme, old-age, widow and disability pensioners receive Rs 1,000 per month, while persons above 80 years of age and those with over 80 per cent disability receive Rs 3,500 per month.
“Many of the beneficiaries are highly needy and solely dependent on their pension amount and are now facing hardship as payments have not been received regularly,” said Manoranjan Gouda, sarpanch of Kaithakhandi, who has been staging a dharna at Digapahandi block seeking immediate release of pensions.
Minister for School and Mass Education, ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Nityananda Gond said the issue occurred due to technical glitches in the portal and would be resolved soon.
“The pensions could not be properly disbursed to some beneficiaries due to certain software issues in the portal. It will be corrected soon,” the minister said.
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