35-year man taking old-age allowance

UDAYAPUR, Oct 25: In an example of aberration in system, a 35-year-old man of Jogidaha-5 in the district has been found taking old-age allowance for the past three years.

Raj Kumar Chaudhari has been receiving monthly allowance of Rs 500 meant for people over 70 years for the past three years on the basis of his citizenship certificate.

Chaudhari´s citizenship certificate, that was issued by a mobile government team in his village on May 3, 1988, has registered his date of birth as 1928 while his actual date of birth is 1975. The certificate (no 466/344) issued on the basis of descent is undersigned by team chief Madhav Pokharel.

“I have been receiving social security allowance producing the citizenship certificate for the past three years,” Chaudhari confided with Republica.

The illiterate man said the error may have occurred due to oversight of others. “The paperwork was done by others. I didn´t know what was written and was made aware of the mistake only four years ago,” he added. He said the local registrar at the Village Development Committee (VDC) pointed out that his citizenship certificate showed him 47 years older than his actual age when he went there for birth registration of his child.

“I immediately tried to correct the mistake by going to the District Administration Office feeling that the mistake may land me in trouble in future but they sent me back saying it cannot be corrected,” he reasoned. “In the meantime, some locals suggested that I apply for old-age allowance on the basis of the certificate and I did accordingly,” he explained.

Assistant Chief District Officer Jhalak Ram Subedi admitted that the records showed Chaudhari´s age to be 82 but expressed ignorance as to whether Chaudhari had come to the office to get it corrected. “A meeting called by the chief district cfficer can correct it if Chaudhari comes forward withnecessary proofs,” Subedi claimed.

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