70-Year-Old Forced To Walk Barefoot In Scorching Heat For Kilometres Just To Collect Pension
According to a video which has gone viral on social media, the frail woman can be seen walking barefoot in scorching heat with the support of a broken chair.
In a heartbreaking incident from Odisha, a 70-year-old woman was seen walking barefoot for several kilometres only to collect her pension from a bank.
According to a video which has gone viral on social media, the frail woman can be seen walking barefoot in scorching heat with the support of a broken chair.
The incident happened in the Jharigaon block of Nabrangpur district of Odisha on April 17.
#WATCH | A senior citizen, Surya Harijan walks many kilometers barefoot with the support of a broken chair to reach a bank to collect her pension in Odisha's Jharigaon
¡ª ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2023
SBI manager Jharigaon branch says, "Her fingers are broken, so she is facing trouble withdrawing money. We'll¡ pic.twitter.com/Hf9exSd0F0
Woman is from low-income family
The elderly woman, Surya Harijan, reportedly belongs to a very low-income family. Her older son works as a migrant labourer in a different state.
She is staying with her younger son's family, and he makes his living grazing other people's cattle. The family has no land to plough and lives in a hut.
The lady went to the bank to get the pension, but she was told that her thumb is not matching the records, and she was forced to return home.
SBI manager responds to incident
In response to the incident, the State Bank of India (SBI) manager has claimed that she is facing trouble in withdrawing money because of her "broken fingers" and the bank is working to resolve the problem.
Representational Image/ BCCL
"Her fingers are broken, so she is facing trouble withdrawing money. We'll resolve the problem soon," the SBI manager Jharigaon branch was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.
The Sarpanch of her village also said that they have discussed listing such helpless people in the village and providing pension money to them.
Bank provides update after FM's tweet
Reacting to the viral video, Union Finance Minister said that the Department of the Finance Services and the State Bank of India should take cognisance of the matter.
Can see the manager of the @TheOfficialSBI responding but yet wish @DFS_India and @TheOfficialSBI take cognisance of this and act humanely. Are they no bank Mitra? @FinMinIndia https://t.co/a9MdVizHim
¡ª Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) April 20, 2023
"Can see the manager of the @TheOfficialSBI responding but yet wish @DFS_India and @TheOfficialSBI take cognisance of this and act humanely. Are they no bank Mitra? @FinMinIndia," Sitharaman tweeted.
Thereafter, SBI replied to the minister, expressing that they are equally upset to see the video and informed
Sitharaman that the issue was resolved.
¡°As per our laid down protocols, the nearest link branch, SBI Jharigaon, immediately paid the pension amount by debiting the amount manually from the pensioner¡¯s account. She has also been reassured by the branch manager of the delivery of pension at her doorstep going forward. As a goodwill gesture, SBI has donated a wheelchair to the pensioner to facilitate her movement," SBI said in an official statement after the minister's tweet.
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Kumar Debvrat is a copyeditor at Indiatimes. He writes about trending topics in India, from human-interest stories to cricket. He has a sharp eye for detail and a passion for storytelling.
