Shivpujan Ram at the Patna DM’s weekly janata darbar. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Dec. 15: Shivpujan Ram (84) has been surviving on Rs 1,000 per month for the past 12 years. The retired Grade II railway employee draws Rs 6,000 as pension but gets to keep just one-sixth of the amount.

Today he visited Patna district magistrate (DM) Sanjay Singh weekly darbar to lodge a complaint against his four sons who allegedly take away his monthly pension by force.

“Sir, my sons are forcefully taking my monthly pension which is my only source of income. They give me only Rs 1,000 and the rest they split among themselves. Because of old age, I cannot argue or beat them up. On the first day of every month, all my sons take me to the SBI branch where I receive my pension,” said Shivpujan. He added: “As soon as I get the money and come out of the bank, they take away Rs 5,000 from me before handing me just Rs 1,000. They ask me what I would do with more money. My wife, Sudania Devi (76), is diabetic. It becomes very difficult for me to survive on such a meagre amount.”

Shivpujan said his sons, Anil, Dashrath, Jitendra and Sri Dev Rai, are private job-holders and get good salary. “But I don’t understand why they are interested in my money. They never visit my house but only on the pension day, they come to take me to the bank,” complained Shivpujan.

The DM asked: “Why do you give the money to them?” to which Shivpujan replied: “Sir, I do not give them, they just take it away from me every month. I tried my level best to make them understand but they are not ready to listen. I have not filed any police complaint so far. I just want you to make them understand or take action against them.”The DM called an official and asked him to send a notice to the four sons of Shivpujan. “Baba, you go home. Today, I am sending a notice to your sons who are taking away your money. I will make sure that they do not repeat this in future,” he said.

The DM promised the octogenarian to take action against the four sons, if found guilty, under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.

The DM told The Telegraph: “The government has given approval to the act which safeguards the rights of parents and senior citizens. If Shivpujan’s sons are found guilty, they will surely face the heat.” The act, which recently got the Bihar cabinet’s nod for implementation, entails three-month imprisonment or a fine of Rs 5,000 or both if children are found guilty of neglecting their parents.