Activists seek safeguards for vulnerable parts after death of elderly woman in Odisha

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Activists on Saturday demanded a robust mechanism to protect vulnerable sections after a 67-year-old widow allegedly committed suicide after her government pension was stopped in Odisha.

Members of four organizations visited Chadiapada village in Odisha’s Ganjam district after concerns were raised over the death of B. Sabitri Dora, a resident of the village under Mardakote gram panchayat in Beguniapada block, whose pension allegedly remained unpaid for three consecutive months.

“From April to June, social security pension for beneficiaries under the Centre-supported National Social Assistance Scheme has been stopped. About 20 lakh pensioners, mainly old-age, widow and disability pensioners, have been affected,” said Samit Panda, organizer of the Odisha Right to Food campaign.

Mr. Panda said the state government attributed the delay to technical glitches and software issues in the digital payment portal used to process direct benefit transfer payments through the SNA-SPARSH (state nodal agency) platform.

Findings of the report According to the inquiry report, Dora, who lived alone, was dependent on a monthly widow’s pension of ₹ 1,000 and the subsidized grain she received through the public distribution system. However, her pension remained unpaid for the past three months despite repeated visits to the gram panchayat office, block office and the bank.

Presenting the findings, journalist Rakhi Ghosh said, “No immediate effort was made to resolve Dora’s complaint despite her age, vulnerability and lonely life”.

“This put her in serious financial and mental trouble,” said Sricharan Behera, a member of the Survival with Dignity Campaign.

The report claimed that delays in pension payments, administrative negligence, failure of the digital payment system and absence of an effective grievance redressal mechanism have left thousands of beneficiaries in dire straits. It said the case reflected a wider systemic crisis as “no contingency mechanism such as cash disbursement or manual payment was put in place despite the state government acknowledging technical glitches in the payment portal”.

Activists claimed that it was only after Dora’s death received widespread public attention that the state government released the pending pensions. (Those in need can contact Tele MANAS at 14416 and ask for help)

Published – 18 Jul 2026 22:09 IST