'Why Am I Still Alive?': 72-Year-Old Man Fights to Prove He's Not Dead in Government Records

By A Representative

North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, July 16, 2025 — For 72-year-old Bishtupada Das of Gobindapur in Swarupnagar, the fight for survival has taken a surreal and painful turn: he is battling poverty, old age, and now, a government record that falsely declared him dead.

Das, a Scheduled Caste daily wager-turned-beggar, has not received his Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension of ₹1,000 a month for the past 29 months. His name, according to the local Block Development Office, has been marked as ‘deceased’ in official documents—a mistake that has cut off his only source of steady income since January 2023.

Living with his wife and deserted daughter, both in equally fragile condition, Das has no land, no savings, and no way to earn. The family survives on scraps, neighbors’ charity, and whatever little Bishtupada can gather through begging. With both elderly parents ailing and the daughter left to manage the household, the absence of pension support has pushed the family to the edge of destitution.

Despite repeated appeals to the local Gram Panchayat, the BDO office, and even the District Magistrate of North 24 Parganas, no rectification has been made. He was once reassured by a local official that the matter would be resolved. That assurance never materialized. Instead, he was told by an official that government records now list him as deceased.

“Why am I still alive? What proof must I give to show that I am not dead?” Das asked a fact-finding team from Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM). His despairing words have become a chilling reflection of the bureaucratic apathy that often haunts the most marginalized.

Human rights activist Kirity Roy, Secretary of MASUM and National Convenor of PACTI (Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity), has taken up his case with the state authorities. “It is shocking that a man has to fight to prove he is alive in his old age just to get his rightful pension. This isn't just a clerical error—it’s a violation of his dignity and right to life,” Roy said. “We urge the government to immediately correct the records, release all pending pension dues, and prevent such cruel mishandling of elderly welfare.”

With no clear mechanism in place to quickly reverse such bureaucratic errors, the Das family remains trapped in a cycle of desperation, awaiting official recognition—not of their needs, but of their existence.

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