Dhenkanal: The old-age pension of a 71-year-old man, who apparently died by suicide in Dhenkanal district on Friday, was not credited to his bank account for two consecutive months, a departmental inquiry has found.Soubhagya Behera, block development officer (BDO) of Parjang, confirmed on Monday that a total of Rs 2,000 in pension payments for Aug and Sept 2026 had not been credited to the account of Ghanshyam Sahu of Roda village due to a validation failure in National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) system.Sahu, who lived alone following the death of his wife about four years ago, was found dead in Bauti forest under Parjang police station limits. Police have launched an investigation into the incident. Villagers claimed that Sahu had repeatedly expressed concern over not receiving his pension and was facing financial hardship.Acting on the directions of Dhenkanal collector Ashish Iswar Patil, the BDO conducted an inquiry to verify whether the pension amount had been credited to Sahu’s Aadhaar-linked bank account.According to Behera, records on the NSAP portal showed that fund transfer validation for Sahu’s pension was generated on Sept 30 for Aug and Sept. “However, the portal subsequently recorded the transaction status as validation failed, rejected, preventing the transfer of Rs 2,000, comprising two monthly instalments of Rs 1,000 each. I will communicate these findings to the district social security officer for further action,” Behera said.Following the incident, the BDO said that instructions have been issued to all sarpanchs and panchayat executive officers in the block to report cases where beneficiaries face difficulties in receiving pension payments immediately, so that corrective steps can be taken in time.
