Woman, 65, who crawled 2km for pension to receive it at home: Official
The video of Pathuri Dehury from Raisuan gram panchayat in Keonjhar district crawling to a local panchayat office for her pension four days ago, had gone viral on social media
A 65-year-old woman from Odisha’s Keonjhar district, who had to crawl at least 2km to collect her pension, will now receive her pension at home along with a tricycle so that she can move around, officials said on Tuesday.

The video of Pathuri Dehury from Raisuan gram panchayat in Keonjhar district crawling to a local panchayat office for her pension four days ago, had gone viral on social media.
Dehury, who lost her husband to an ailment a few years ago, and since then enrolled under the state-run Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY), was asked to come to the panchayat office to collect her monthly pension.
The MBPY is a social welfare scheme in Odisha that provides financial assistance to people in need.
“When no one came home to disburse the pension, I had no other option than to crawl 2km to reach the panchayat office,” she said.
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Reacting to the developments, Raisuan sarpanch Bagun Champia said that he asked the panchayat extension officer and supply assistants to provide the pension as well as rations at her house.
“After we heard about the news, we have ensured that she gets the pension at her home. We have also given her a tricycle so that she can move around,” said Champia over phone.
Champia said that there are around 680 people in the panchayat who are receiving various pensions and orders have been given to provide the pension at doorstep if the beneficiaries can’t go to the panchayat office on their own.
ABOUT THE AUTHORDebabrata MohantyDebabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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