RANCHI: Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das on Monday asked Giridih district officials to submit a report on the death of an elderly woman, allegedly because of starvation, within 24 hours. Das had in the morning tweeted his condolence of the death of Savitri and sought a report.Savitri Devi, who was in her sixties, died on Saturday in Mangri Garhi village, in Giridih district’s Dumri. Right to food (RTF) activists Ramdev Vishwabandhu and Vishwanath Singh on Monday visited her house to investigate the reasons of her death. “Savitri’s family had applied for a ration card almost a year ago, which she never got. Her family and elder daughter-in-law said she didn’t get any money even though her old-age pension had been sanctioned in 2014,” Vishwabandhu said.When the RTF activists visited the Chainpur branch of Allahabad Bank on Monday, they found that Rs 1,800 had been credited to Savitri’s account on April 4, 2018. “This seems to have happened four years after her old-age pension had been sanctioned. Her account was opened on January 21, 2014 but not a single paisa was put there all these months. After visiting her bank a few times between 2014 and ’15, she lost hope and stopped going there,” Vishwabandhu said.Block pramukh Yashoda Devi said Savita Devi’s family has been living in abject poverty. “My office has received many applications for ration cards. Despite repeated requests, the marketing officer has not issued the cards citing various resons,” she said.Yashoda said a local women’s self-help group, “Ma Kali Sahayata Samuha”, had last week given 3 kgs of rice to Savita’s family. She added, “Two of her sons, Hiralal and Hulas, are daily-wage earners. Hiralal is in UP and has not been able to send any money because he hasn’t got his wages. Hulas is yet to find work.”Deputy commissioner Manoj Kumar said when an officer visited the village he found Savitri had been very ill for quite some time and was being looked after by her relatives. In his report to the CM’s office, Kumar wrote, “Villagers, as part of local custom, gave her food of her choice in her last days. She hadn’t withdrawn her pension amount of Rs 1,800 since April. So, the cause of her death is not due to hunger (sic).”On Monday, when officials from the land and revenue department visited the village, they found that Savitri’s family owns land measuring 25 decimals.

Stay updated with all the Latest Ranchi headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.