Harassed by panchayat, block officials
In a case showing sheer administrative apathy, an old man in Nuagaon block has been running from pillar to post for years to get his old age pension, but in vain.
Sources said one Nadia Tirkey(75), a resident of Chirapedi Panchayat had to apply for old age pension for nine times in last seven years but he is yet to avail the benefit due to the non-cooperative attitude of the employees.
Each time he approached the officials at the Gram Panchayat office on his pension issue, he was told to apply afresh. He was told that his old applications were misplaced and therefore once again he had to apply.
When Tirkey went to the Block Office to inquire about his application, he was told that his application was eaten by termite and therefore, he needed to apply once again.
Though Tirkey has been shuttling between the Panchayat and Block office for several times, he has found no cooperation from any official. Now, the old man is totally harassed and has lost hope about getting pension from the Government.
Several schemes of the Government, including the Madhubabu pension scheme and Indira Gandhi National old age pension scheme are not reaching to the persons who deserve them the most in the tribal dominated district here because of apathy of the officials and vested interest, alleged sources.
“For the last seven years, I have been running from Panchayat office to Block office and during the period I have submitted my application for nine times. But nowhere have I got a positive signal about getting my pension,” said Tirkey
When asked, VlW Joseph Dungdung of Chirapedi Panchanyat and GPEO Pascal Kiro of Nuagaon block merely expressed their ignorance about the Tirkey’s application.