‘Sir, I’m alive… please believe me’:Ratlam woman panch declared dead in records after flagging civic issues; officials cite technical error

A 52-year-old elected panch from Kalalia village in Ratlam district has been struggling for the past five months to prove that she is alive after being declared dead in government records. Rahisabai, the affected village representative, says the error led to the suspension of her ration benefits, Ladli Behna Scheme payments, and LPG subsidy. She also claims she stopped receiving notices for panchayat meetings despite being an elected member. “Sir, I am alive… please believe me” “Sir, I am alive. Can’t you see that I’m standing before you?” Rahisabai says as she continues visiting government offices to get her records corrected. When reporters met her, she was preparing yet another application with her husband, Jagdish Nath, seeking official recognition that she is alive. The family says they have approached authorities at the tehsil, panchayat, and district levels multiple times over the last five months without a complete resolution. Woman alleges she was targeted for raising local issues When the Dainik Bhaskar team visited Rahisabai’s village to meet her, she alleges that she became the target of influential people in the village after repeatedly raising concerns about drinking water, drainage, and other basic civic amenities during panchayat meetings. According to her, the problems began after she highlighted these issues before local authorities. Husband alleges collusion behind record entry Her husband, Jagdish Nath, claims that Rahisabai was incorrectly marked as deceased in the Samagra ID database due to alleged collusion between the Sarpanch and the Panchayat secretary. The family says they discovered the error only after government welfare benefits were abruptly stopped. Panchayat participation affected Rahisabai says that despite presenting identity documents and repeatedly clarifying that she is alive, the official records have not been fully corrected. As a result, she claims she no longer receives notifications for panchayat meetings, affecting her ability to perform her duties as an elected representative. Her husband says the prolonged ordeal has caused significant mental stress to the family. Welfare benefits suspended Following the erroneous death entry in official records, several government benefits were halted, affecting the family’s finances. According to the family, they have had to borrow money to purchase essential food supplies after losing access to public welfare assistance. Benefits reportedly affected: Panchayat officials call it a technical error Panchayat Secretary Bapulal Jat said the issue arose due to an incorrect Samagra ID being entered during the Know Your Customer (KYC) process and described it as a technical mistake. He stated that the identification details have since been corrected and that restoration of welfare benefits depends on the government’s administrative process. Regarding the death entry itself, he said it may have been recorded inadvertently and suggested the error could have originated before his tenure.