RANCHI: Denied ration for three years, a 70-year-old Payaso Devi allegedly died of starvation at Sangrampur village under Gola Block of Ramgarh, about 50 kilometers from the State headquarters, early in the morning on Thursday.
According to family members, she died of hunger as food was not cooked for the last five days in her house due to lack of ration in the house.
Payaso Devi has a son who lives separately with his family and works as a drummer in marriages and other ceremonials. Due to the countrywide lockdown, even he was not getting enough money to get ration for her mother.
"When we reported that her name has been deleted from the list of ration card holders, we were asked to contact the marketing officer and when we went to him he sent us to the Deputy Commissioner, who again returned us back saying that Marketing Officer is the right person to deal with the problem," said the deceased’s son. No food was cooked for the last five days as there was no ration in the house.
According to the ration card found in her house, the woman had received ration last in the year 2017 after which she was not given. The woman was earning her living by begging in nearby areas.
Block Development Officer Kuldeep Kumar, however, said that the lady was not well for the last few days but asserted that she was not getting ration for the last few years for some unknown reasons.
"The lady was very old nearly 75 years of age and was also said to be ill for the last few days. Though, she was not getting ratio for the last few years, but she is getting old-age pension and has also been given benefits of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna," said the BDO.
Notably, the State Government has directed officials to provide 10 kg ration even to the household which does not have ration cards during the lockdown period.