'Dead' people petition Govt for rights

It's an association fighting for the 'dead'. To draw attention to their plight, over 400 people, who have been wrongly declared dead in government records, will observe their punarjanm diwas or Rebirth Day on June 30 under the banner of Mritak Sangh.

Sangh, which has 470 members from across the state, will be celebrating the day to attract attention of the government, its president Lal Bihari Mritak said. After Lal Bihari was declared dead in government records in 1976, he constituted the Sangh to fight for people facing the same ordeal.

Bihari managed to get the records corrected and was declared "alive" on June 20, 1994. "Sangh is now fighting for the cause of the people declared dead by their relatives or rivals," he said.

The organisation is pressing for compensation of Rs 25 lakh from the government for the harassment suffered by those wrongly declared dead.