Pension delay: 83-yr-old sets himself afire

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, April 18 

The delay in getting old age pension of Rs 250 per month and the callous attitude of the administration today drove an 83-year-old man from Dhilwan to burn himself. Somnath lit the matchstick on his petrol-soaked clothes outside a nationalised bank in Dhilwan, near Kapurthala today, and sustained 80 per cent burns.

Two days ago, he had written to Kapurthala Senior Superintendent of Police Ashish Chaudhary and District Social Security Officer Gulbarg Lal highlighting his plight and threatening to commit suicide if his pension was not released immediately. But the letter went unnoticed.

Somnath today protested briefly outside a bank branch in Dhilwan, flashed a banner raising his demand and set himself ablaze. 

He was shifted to the Civil Hospital, Kapurthala, from where he was referred to the CMC, Ludhiana. Somnath, a rickshaw-puller, had been finding it hard to continue with his work and was solely dependent on Rs 250 per month that he received as old-age pension. 

Though the district administration maintained the pension was being regularly released to him and he had received his pension for three months on January 12 this year, the victim’s family claimed otherwise. “Our father stays alone here while we all live in Ludhiana. He had not received his old-age pension since September last year,” said his son Subhash Chandar.

The cash-strapped state government has often been accused of failing to release pensions on time. 

Kapurthala admn to foot treatment bill

District Social and Security Officer Gulbarg Lal said Somnath (pic) had last withdrawn his pension on January 12 and the quarterly instalment was due in April. "We are inquiring if the latest instalment was credited or not,” Lal said

Kapurthala DC DS Mangat said the expenses on treatment of the victim would be borne by the administration. “We are yet to record the victim’s statement,” he said

Badal ‘responsible’ for act

Somnath had reportedly held similar protests earlier too and got a banner made. On Saturday, he held a banner written in Punjabi: "After September 9, elderly and specially abled children have not got pension. For this, I am holding this dharna. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should be held responsible for any untoward incident."