At 70, Basana Chakma Still Breaking Bricks to Survive. Basana & her Husband Denied Old-Age Pension Due to Missing Papers
Gandachhara, Oct 9: In a heart-wrenching tale of endurance and neglect, 70-year-old Basana Chakma and her 80-year-old husband Shuddhajoy Chakma, residents of Chowkidar Para in Narayanpur ADC Village under Gandachhara subdivision of Dhalai district in Tripura, continue to struggle for survival by manually breaking bricks for brick chips—an arduous job they have been doing for decades. Despite their frail health and advancing age, the couple still spend long hours under the blazing sun and pouring rain to earn just enough to afford two meals a day.
Sitting in front of her modest home, Basana Chakma shared her story with visiting media representatives, her weathered face reflecting years of hardship. She said that for nearly four decades, she has been working as a manual brick-breaker to feed her family and raise her five children—four daughters and one son. Though she successfully married them off, her children are now preoccupied with their own families, leaving the elderly couple to fend for themselves.
“We have no one to depend on. We are old, weak, and poor, yet we have to work every day just to survive,” she said, her voice trembling with exhaustion. “At this age, it is hard to lift a hammer or break bricks, but if we don’t work, we will go hungry.”
Basana further revealed that despite crossing 70, she and her husband have never received any government old-age pension—a benefit meant to provide some relief to senior citizens like them. The reason, she explained, lies in the absence of certain official documents.
“We have a ration card, Aadhaar card, and an identity card,” she said. “But since we don’t have an ST certificate or PRTC (Permanent Resident of Tripura Certificate), our applications for pension have been rejected several times.”
Fighting back tears, Basana lamented, “We are citizens of this country, yet we face endless harassment while trying to get our documents made. We don’t have a birth certificate or school certificate. Sometimes I wonder how much longer I can continue working like this. I worry every night about what will happen to us when we can no longer work.”
Her husband, Shuddhajoy, echoed similar pain, saying that age has not been kind to their bodies, but poverty leaves them no choice. “We don’t want much from life—just some dignity and peace in our final years,” he said softly.
Locals of Chowkidar Para expressed deep concern over the plight of the couple and urged the district and subdivision administrations to intervene urgently. They demanded that the authorities help the Chakma couple obtain the required documents and include their names in the old-age pension scheme without further delay.
“This is not just about one couple; there are many like them in remote tribal areas who are denied government benefits due to lack of paperwork,” said a local villager. “The administration must take proactive steps to ensure that no senior citizen is left behind.”
Now, all eyes are on the Gandachhara Sub-Divisional Administration to see whether they respond swiftly to the couple’s distress after the issue has come to light. For Basana and Shuddhajoy, time is running out—and their story stands as a stark reminder of how bureaucratic hurdles can push even the most hardworking citizens to the edge of despair.
