BERHAMPUR: The alleged suicide of a 66-year-old widow due to acute poverty in Ganjam’s Beguniapada block has triggered a political storm with opposition parties attributing the death to delay in pension disbursement.
A resident of Chadheyapada village in Beguniapada, B Sabitri Dora allegedly consumed pesticide on Sunday and died during treatment. Family members claimed she was under mental stress after not receiving her old-age pension for the past three months. According to daughter B Chandi Dora, Sabitri was living alone and depended primarily on her monthly pension and food security benefits for survival.
Officials confirmed that Sabitri was a beneficiary of the old age pension scheme. Her last pension payment was credited in March. Beguniapada block development officer (BDO) Sunil Kumar Samant described the incident as unfortunate and said a preliminary inquiry has been ordered through the panchayat executive officer to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death.
However, the Ganjam unit of CPI(M) alleged that administrative negligence and prolonged pension delays led to Sabitri’s death. On Wednesday, a four-member delegation of the party visited Chadheyapada village and met the widow’s family members and local officials.
CPI(M) secretary Judhistir Behera claimed Sabitri repeatedly visited government offices, banks and service centres seeking release of her pension but to no avail. Alleging that the woman’s death reflected the government’s failure in welfare delivery, he demanded adequate compensation for her family and timely disbursement of pensions.
Behera announced that the party would hold demonstrations at block offices across the district from June 24 to June 30 over the incident.
On the other hand, the district administration claimed that so far, there have been no confirmed evidence linking the death directly to the pension delay. Ganjam collector V Keerthi Vasan said a detailed inquiry has been ordered and urged people not to spread rumours. The exact cause of death is yet to be established. The postmortem examination has been conducted at MKCG Medical College and Hospital and officials are awaiting the report, he added.
The incident comes amid reports that more than 1.49 lakh beneficiaries under the National Social Assistance Programme in Ganjam district have not received pension for the past three months due to technical issues affecting the payment system.
