A destitute widow who was declared dead a year ago by the Bhadrak district administration has started receiving old age pension! More interestingly, the district administration that had been denying her pension itself started giving the benefit.
The Bhadrak district administration woke up after receiving the direction from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and acted upon a case of ensuring old age pension to Malati Maharana, a poor woman whose name was struck off from the list of the beneficiaries showing her dead. Seeing this serious discrepancy rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy filed a petition at the NHRC.
Malati Maharana of Kandaba village of Gopinathpur panchayat of Bonth block in Bhadrak district has been declared dead by Government officials even though she is alive.
“The failure of the district administration in acting over the plight of Malati Maharana who has been deprived of old age pension due to erroneous Government officials amount to serious violation of human rights,” Tripathy alleged.
He requested the commission to direct district Collector to ensure justice to the victim.
Directing the District Magistrate-cum-Collector to act over the issue, the NHRC order stated, “The authority concerned is directed to take appropriate action within eight weeks and to inform the complainant of the action taken in the matter.”