Muzaffarpur: A shocking and troubling case has come to light from Muzaffarpur district in Bihar, where an elderly man has been wrongly declared dead in official records, leading to the stoppage of his social security pension. The incident took place in Chhapki village under Shahpur Maricha panchayat in the Maniyari police station area. The mistake has exposed serious problems in the administration of welfare schemes meant to support the elderly and the poor.
The beneficiary, Bindeshwar Rai, was listed as “deceased” in the government’s Management Information System during a routine verification process. According to the records, his pension was stopped from December 28, 2025, with the reason mentioned as “beneficiary found dead during verification.” However, in reality, Bindeshwar Rai is alive and living in his village. His date of birth also appears differently in various records, adding to the confusion, but no physical verification was properly done before stopping his pension.
After learning that his pension had been stopped, the elderly man was forced to run from one government office to another to correct the mistake. For a person of his age, this process has been exhausting and humiliating. The pension was his main source of income, and without it, his family is now facing financial difficulties. They say they are under mental stress, as they are being asked to prove something that should never have been questioned — that he is alive.
The payment details raise even more doubts about the administration’s actions. Records show that his pension for October 2025 was paid successfully, but the payment for November was never started. If he had already been declared dead, the October payment should not have been made. This contradiction suggests serious negligence either during verification or while updating digital records.
This incident also highlights the failure of the life certification system, which is meant to ensure that pensions reach the right beneficiaries without such errors. Instead, the system appears to have worked against the very person it was designed to protect. Local residents have demanded an investigation into the matter, punishment for the officials responsible, and immediate restoration of the pension along with pending payments. The case is a warning sign for the entire pension system, showing how administrative mistakes can deeply affect the lives of vulnerable citizens.
