“I’m alive, not dead,” says 53-year-old Irappa Nagappa Abbai, a sugarcane farmer from Sutagatti village in Savadatti taluk, whose life was turned upside down after government records declared him dead—five years ago.
Irappa discovered the shocking error in 2025 when he visited the Nada Kacheri in Murgod to collect documents for applying to a government drip irrigation scheme under the Minor Irrigation Department. The scheme could have fetched him a subsidy of up to ₹3 lakh. Instead, officials told him he was officially listed as deceased since July 8, 2021—along with his son.
Error traced to village accountant
An inquiry later revealed that the mistake occurred while issuing the death certificate of Irappa’s son, who had passed away in 2021. Due to an error by the village accountant, Irappa’s name was also entered as deceased in the government database.
Mallikarjun Heggannavar, Tahsildar of Savadatti, confirmed that a departmental inquiry has been initiated. A notice has been issued to the concerned village accountant, and disciplinary action will follow if negligence is proven.
Months of hardship and office visits
For the past five months, Irappa has been travelling repeatedly between the Murgod Nada Kacheri and the Savadatti tahsildar’s office—each trip taking nearly one-and-a-half hours—trying to prove that he is alive, in flesh and blood.
“The mistake stopped all my welfare benefits. I lost nearly six months because I was declared dead on paper,” Irappa said.
Officials have now accepted his rectification application. A report has been sent to the District Statistical Office in Belagavi and forwarded to Bengaluru. The correction process is under way and is expected to take around 20 days.
A larger issue of bureaucratic errors
The case highlights how clerical errors can have devastating consequences for marginal farmers dependent on government schemes for survival and growth.