A tragic incident from Odisha’s Bolangir district has triggered widespread outrage after a farmer died while trying to retrieve money from the sale of his paddy, which was mistakenly credited to an inactive bank account in Kerala.
The deceased, Balaram Pradhan, was a resident of Nagaon village under Agalpur block in Bolangir district. He had sold 31 quintals of paddy at a local PACS mandi and was expecting the sale proceeds and subsidy to be credited to his active Punjab National Bank account in Odisha. Instead, the amount was transferred to a dormant bank account he had opened in Kerala years ago while working as a migrant labourer.
Payment error led to desperate journey
According to family members, Balaram had returned to Odisha nearly five years ago, after which the Kerala account became inactive. While last year’s paddy payment was credited correctly, this year the amount was automatically transferred to the old account due to Aadhaar linkage.
In a desperate attempt to withdraw the money, Balaram travelled to Kerala with relevant documents. During the trip, he fell seriously ill and was admitted to a hospital, where he later died due to health complications before accessing the funds.
Family unable to bring body back
Adding to the family’s distress, Balaram’s body remains in Kerala as they lack the financial resources to bring it back home. Farmer leaders have blamed systemic lapses and called the incident a result of administrative failure.
“This is a tragic consequence of a faulty system. A farmer lost his life trying to access his own money,” said Akash Mishra, a farmer leader from the district.
Authorities promise assistance
The PACS secretary said the payment was auto-credited due to Aadhaar linkage and claimed there was no mechanism to verify account details before disbursal. Following the incident, the Zilla Parishad chairperson met the bereaved family and held discussions with the district administration.
Officials have assured support to bring the body back to Odisha and provide possible assistance to the family. The incident has raised serious questions about accountability and safeguards in the paddy procurement payment system.