Keonjhar: Elderly man stages protest, Threatens to consume poison over Old Age Pension woes

Keonjhar: An elderly man has staged indefinite dharna and threatening to consume poison in Hatadihi block of Keonjhar district in Odisha since the last three days over non-disbursement of old age pension.

According to sources, a man along with 20 other people has staged an indefinite dharna has been facing trouble getting the old age pension since last few months. They have to run from office to office in order to get the old age pension. After repeated rejection, they were forced to protest in this way and has threated to commit suicide.

The man, Dasarathi Jena of Sadanga panchayat in Hatadihi block of the district, was joined by over 20 other beneficiaries who have reportedly been deprived of the social security assistance.

He has been siting on protest with a bottle of poison in Sadanga. He claimed that nearly 40 beneficiaries in the panchayat have been suffering as old age pension has been halted since last four months.