Rohtak: Remember the movie ‘Kaagaz’ starring Pankaj Tripathi? The movie was based on the life of Lal Bihari ‘Mritak’, who made national headlines when he fought a long battle to prove he was ‘alive’, after being declared ‘dead’ in government records. Now, a similar story has surfaced from Haryana where a 102-year-old man in Rohtak has been pronounced dead in government records, and his pension has been stopped. Launching a protest against the state government’s decision to stop his pension, Duli Chand carried out a rather unique procession on Thursday, when he rode a wedding chariot to the tunes of a brass band, to prove him alive in the official records.
Duli Chand, a resident of village Gandhra in Rohtak district, wore a garland of notes, as is customary for a groom, and took out the procession from Mansarovar Park to Canal rest house in Rohtak city to press the state government to restore his pension which was stopped in March this year.
हरियाणवी फिल्म, थारा फूफा जिन्दा है
अभिनेता -दुलीचंद ज़िंदा ( 102 वर्षीय )
निर्माता निर्देशक, नवीन जयहिंद
गीत संगीत, बेरोजगार बैंड पार्टी रोहतक
कहानी-हरियाणा सरकार के कुछ अधिकारी जिन्होंने ज़िंदा दुलीचंद को मृत बता काट दी बुढ़ापा पेंशन @NaveenJaihind @DeependerSHooda pic.twitter.com/EtZVA4qvMh— Puspendra Singh Rajput हरियाणा अब तक (@psrajput75) September 8, 2022
Naveen Jaihind, a former chief of the Haryana unit of Aam Aadmi Party, said Duli Chand was shown as “dead” in the government records and his old-age pension was stopped. Jaihind, who accompanied Duli Chand, said the centenarian is alive and he has his Aadhaar card, family ID, and bank statements to prove it. Duli Chand and his supporters even carried placards on the way to the government office, one of them read ‘thara fufa zinda hai (Your uncle is still alive)’.
At the end of his glorious ride, Duli Chand, and Jaihind, met former minister and BJP leader Manish Grover and demanded restoration of his pension, showing him his papers.
“I got my last old-age pension in March. After that, my pension was stopped as government records showed I was dead. Since then, I have been trying to prove that I am still alive, but in vain,” Chand told NDTV.
(With PTI Inputs)
