BASTI: A startling case has emerged from Basti in Uttar Pradesh, where an elderly man arrived at the District Magistrate’s office carrying a shroud and pleaded to be declared alive, saying government records had shown him as dead for the past 14 years. The man, identified as Ishaq Ali from Banpur village in Lalganj police station area, said he had spent years visiting government offices in an effort to reclaim his land and correct the official record.
Declared Dead in Revenue Records
Ishaq Ali said he is forced to prove every day that he is alive. He said the government continues to pay him pension, but in his village and among his own people he has been treated as dead on paper. He alleged that despite repeated complaints and evidence submitted over the years, official records have still not been corrected.
The case centres on 0.770 hectare of land which the elderly man said was transferred into another person’s name after he was shown as dead in revenue records. He said he has been surviving by withdrawing his pension from the bank, even as government files continue to record him as deceased.
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Land Transfer and Official Allegations
Allegations in the matter have been made against then revenue inspector Lalit Kumar Mishra, who is accused of misusing his position to record Ishaq Ali’s death in official papers on December 2, 2012. After that, Ishaq Ali’s ancestral agricultural land, identified as Gata number 892, was allegedly transferred in the name of a woman from the same village, Shahidunisha.
What has drawn particular attention is the timeline described in the case. Between 2012 and 2019, revenue department records reportedly showed Ishaq Ali as dead, while during the same period the health department was paying him salary every month. Ishaq Ali was employed as a sweeper at the CHC in Nathnagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, and records showed that he retired on December 31, 2019.
Administration Orders Inquiry
The matter caused commotion at the DM office when the elderly man lay down there with the shroud. Senior officials reached the spot after learning of the incident. Ishaq Ali said he wanted only one thing: to be declared alive in official papers.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sadar Shatrudhan Pathak said the man had approached him and that the matter was serious. He said an inquiry would be conducted and strict action would be taken against any employee found responsible. He also said the elderly man would be given justice.
