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Dead Odisha workers ‘resurrected’ on paper, only to be ‘killed’ again for death benefits
The embezzlement of a construction workers welfare fund was masterminded by the Rayagada District Labour Officer, with a web of government officials, doctors, and trade union leaders engaged in making money off fake deaths
Indumati Watapanga, holds photographs whose two sons returned to life on paper after their deaths at Muihuda village near to the Muniguda town in Rayagada district of south Odisha.
| Photo Credit: Biswaranjan Rout
Indumati Watapanga, a cooking assistant in a Anganwadi centre in Rayagada, a tribal district of Odisha, went through devastating tragedies when she lost both of her sons and her husband in a span of just two years, from 2020 to 2022. But what happened next was beyond anything she could have imagined.
Government records that had noted the deaths of her sons, suddenly declared them alive again. This was not just a careless clerical error, but something far more sinister. Her two sons were found registered as construction workers with the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board (OBOCWWB). Just one month after registration, these same records listed them as dead again.
Indumati was not the only one caught in this surreal web. Susata Suna, a migrant labourer from Ambadola panchayat, had been officially declared dead by the Government Railway Police of Vijayawada after she collapsed on the Alappuzha-Dhanbad Express on June 10, 2022. Yet, in a twist that seemed to defy the very laws of nature, Susata died a second time on November 27, 2023 — this time, conveniently, ten days after being registered with the OBOCWWB.
Bizarre fraud
The list of the dead who came alive only to die again is long — hundreds of names that have turned the dry pages of government records into something akin to a bizarre ghost story. This series of twists in the “lives” of the deceased, however, has been orchestrated for one purpose: to fraudulently claim death benefits from the OBOCWWB.
Government statistics shows that 33 ‘construction’ workers had died within three days of their registration with OBOCWWB, Rayagada. Their next-of-kin received ₹2,05,000 each as death benefits and funeral assistance. However, it is likely that almost all of these 33 individuals were recorded as deceased twice in the records.
In the southern Odisha district of Rayagada, benefits have been disbursed in case of death of 1,910 construction workers from the year 2023 to 2024. Sources said about that about 1,200 of these deceased people were ‘killed’ again in government records, as a gang of officials, trade union leaders and middlemen stumbled upon convenient ways to embezzle the government fund. The amount siphoned off could be in the range of ₹25 crore in Rayagada alone.
What is the OBOCWWB?
The OBOCWWB was created under the Building and Other Construction Workers (RE&CS) Act, 1996. Under the law, a cess of 1% is collected from all ongoing construction projects to provide welfare benefits to registered construction workers across the State.
Those who are registered with the OBOCWWB are entitled to assistance in case of accidents or deaths, as well as support for funeral, medical, marriage, maternity, and educational needs. Besides, workers are provided with assistance to acquire working tools, bicycles, safety equipment, and to build houses, or upgrade their skills.
So far, over 42.66 lakh people have registered as construction workers with the OBCWWB. Cumulatively, ₹4,571.84 crore has been collected in Odisha, while ₹3,588 crore has been spent.
Racket busted
In March this year, the Rayagada District Labour Office’s verification calls to the nominees of deceased construction workers unexpectedly connected to individuals in Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, and other States, raising suspicions about potential corruption within the system.
The Labour Commissioner deputed a high-level team to carry out a field investigation. In June, the team traced seven death certificates and found that they had been forged in Indirapada village in the Ambadola panchayat of Rayagada, to claim death benefits.
Rayagada District Labour Officer (DLO) Jasmine Subhadarshini Sahoo was later identified as the mastermind behind the massive fraud, and suspended in June. She had supposedly verified the nominees’ genuineness in seven cases by calling non-existent mobile numbers like 0000000000 and 1111111111.
Macabre money-making
According to an FIR registered with the Rayagada police, there were 20 applications seeking death benefits under OBOCWWB in Rayagada for which only one mobile number – 8249067068 – was provided, for different nominees.
In January 2024, as many as 81 registration cards had been issued, of which 33 were shown as having subsequently died in the months of January and February. As many as 31 such death benefits were then transferred to the bank account of Balaram Kusulia, a trade union leader in Rayagada, the new Rayagada DLO said in a complaint to police in the first week of August. Two brothers of Mr. Kusulia were also found to be nominees for availing death benefits.
In another case, it was found that death and funeral benefits had been taken away in a fraudulent manner in the name of a still living registered construction worker.
Searching for the dead
As the team delved deeper, they uncovered layers of corruption hidden beneath the surface. Indumati said that her sons’ death certificates had been forged and their death benefits were wiped out from their account by a middleman who surreptitiously took their fingerprints.
The desperation of the racket, allegedly led by the DLO, was so intense that they actively searched for recently deceased individuals. The scheme did not always involve the real nominee, like Indumati. Instead, they would find individuals with the same surname as the deceased, falsely presenting them as the son, daughter, husband, or wife, and then pocket the benefits.
One such search led fraudsters to Sergipai, a remote village nestled on a hill in the Niyamgiri range. To reach Sergipai, home to the Dongria Kondhs, a particularly vulnerable tribal group, one must trek a steep 1.5 km climb. Despite the arduous journey, the fraudsters managed to reach the home of Budka Sikaka, who had passed away three years ago. They gathered his details, forged his records to make him appear alive, and registered his name with the OBOCWWB. On paper, Budka Sikaka was then declared deceased once again on November 4, 2023.
Fake paper trail
“When the scam was uncovered, we used the RTI Act to investigate. We discovered that 44 families had been defrauded, with a total of ₹89.20 lakh being siphoned off,” alleges Paika Jakeka, the sarpanch of Munikhola.
To carry out corruption of this magnitude, one has to have a proper paper trail. Death certificates were falsely issued by doctors without fear of disciplinary consequences. For instance, Harihar Sabar, a 79-year-old resident of Nauduguda village in Chandrapur Tahasil passed away on November 8, 2023. At the time of his death, he was not eligible for death benefits due to his age exceeding 60 years. However, Salkhu Charan Purty, a doctor from the Chandrapur Community Health Centre issued a revised death certificate on February 12, 2024, reducing Harihar’s age to 50 years.
Several doctors in Rayagada district were found to have issued two different death certificates for the same individuals. Further evidence emerged showing tampering with Aadhaar and bank details as well.
Compromised system
The usual protocol is for nominees to apply for death benefits through common service centres situated near their villages. These applications are sent online to a welfare coordinator, who is assigned to carry out an initial verification by making telephone calls to the nominees. Upon being satisfied, the coordinator forwards the applications to another official for further vetting. The application is finally approved by the DLO. The benefit is then released once the District Collector has signed off on it.
In this case, the DLO used her superior administrative powers to pull all the applications directly to her desk even before the welfare coordinator reached office. The DLO then approved applications for death benefits at a breakneck pace. She had knowingly overlooked all discrepancies on applications. In a similar pattern, frauds have been allegedly committed in Nabarangpur, Angul, Kendrapara, Nuapada, Subarnapur and Sundargarh districts.
“The Rayagada episode is an eye-opener for us,” Odisha Labour Commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange told The Hindu. “We have already handed over the matter to the Economic Offence Wing, apart from registering a police complaint to inquire into the case in detail. Besides, a local fund audit has been ordered into the functioning of the OBOCWWB.” Mr. Kulange said that all involved in fraud would be punished.
In order to prevent such irregularities in future, the Labour department is launching a mobile application for the registration of workers under the OBOCWWB and for the storage of their documents. An eligible labourer will then be able to apply for benefits through the application, wiping out the role of middlemen and agents.
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