Alive but listed dead, Bokaro man fights for pension arrears

Bokaro: For years, every trip to a govt office was the same for Dharanidhar Manjhi — carry documents, prove he was alive, and return home without answers. Declared “dead” in official records despite being very much alive, the 83-year-old Bokaro resident spent years battling bureaucracy after his old-age pension was abruptly stopped. The matter has now reached chief minister Hemant Soren, who has directed officials to intervene.Manjhi, a resident of Gopinathpur village in Chandankiyari block of Bokaro district, said he began receiving pension during the 2021-22 financial year. However, during physical verification in 2022-23, he was wrongly marked as “dead” at the panchayat level, leading to the immediate discontinuation of his pension.Manjhi, whose house is around 28 km from the district headquarters, said he made repeated visits to govt offices to get the error corrected. “I approached the block and district officials several times, but no action was taken,” he said.He alleged that the mistake stemmed from a report prepared at the village level involving the mukhiya, panchayat secretary and anganwadi workers. He has demanded immediate release of the pending arrears along with action against those responsible.Bokaro deputy commissioner Ajay Nath Jha said the matter had come up during a Janata Darbar in Nov 2025. “Following the complaint, the pension was regularised immediately. Since then, payments have been made regularly and have been cleared till March 2026,” the DC said.He added that the issue now pertains only to arrears from the earlier period when payments were halted. “The process to settle the pending arrears has already been initiated,” Jha said.The DC also said Chandankiyari BDO Ajay Verma visited Manjhi’s residence on Thursday and apprised him of the current status.After the issue surfaced on social media recently, chief minister Hemant Soren took cognisance and posted on X on Wednesday: “BokaroDc, please investigate the matter and, while providing assistance to the honourable landholder ji and his family, inform us.”Responding to the CM’s post, Jha wrote on X: “An investigation has been conducted. The demand pertains to pending pension from the previous period. A decision will be taken soon and action will be initiated.”