BARGARH: A 62-year-old farmer from Pipilipali village under Bijepur block, who was deprived of selling paddy during the ongoing kharif season after he was marked dead on Aadhaar records, finally received some relief on Tuesday as his son successfully sold his produce at the Budhapali procurement centre.
Tankadhar Giri, the farmer, had earlier obtained a token and reached Budapali mandi to sell 28.86 quintal of paddy. However, during the biometric verification process, the system erroneously showed his Aadhaar card status as ‘deceased’. Due to this technical error, Tankadhar was prevented from selling his produce.
The incident gained attention after The New Indian Express published a report highlighting Tankadhar’s plight. Subsequently, the administration acted swiftly and made alternative arrangements to facilitate the sale of paddy in the name of his son Krishna Kumar Giri. On Tuesday, Krishna was able to sell the paddy smoothly at Budapali mandi.
Expressing happiness, Tankadhar and his family thanked the administration, and extended special gratitude to a local scribe, Sushant Sahu, who helped him amplify his grievance across media platforms.
Krishna said, “We were tired of running from pillar to post to resolve the issue and had almost lost hope after the regional centre in Bhubaneswar informed us that the rectification would take 30 to 90 days. However, with the help of Sushant and the intervention of TNIE, we were able to sell our paddy. We feel relieved of a huge burden.”
The issue came to light when Tankadhar brought his harvested paddy to Budhapali procurement centre on December 27 but was denied sale after biometric verification flagged his Aadhaar as “deceased”. The farmer subsequently approached the Bijepur Aadhaar centre, the Bargarh district administration and the authorities concerned in Bhubaneswar, submitting all required documents for correction.
With no resolution within the procurement window, Tankadhar was forced to return home with his paddy after the token validity expired on January 3, facing financial uncertainty, even as officials later sought resubmission of documents and initiated steps to move his case to Bhubaneswar for token revalidation.