FM Nirmala Sitharaman reacts as elderly woman forced to walk barefoot in scorching heat to collect pension
Jharigaon (Odisha), April 21: A 70-year-old woman was recently seen walking barefoot in the scorching heat of rural Odisha, desperately trying to collect her pension from a nearby bank. The viral video captured the frail elderly woman, named Surya Harijan, propping herself up with a broken chair while making her way to the bank in the Jharigaon block of Nabrangpur district.
Surya is a very poor woman whose older son is working as a migrant labourer in a different state. She lives with her younger son's family and they make their living by grazing other people's cattle. The family has no land to plough and lives in a hut.
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When the elderly woman went to the bank to collect her pension, she was told that her thumbprint was not matching the records and was refused the money. The State Bank of India (SBI) manager has since claimed that she is facing difficulty withdrawing her funds due to her "broken fingers" and that the bank is working to resolve the matter.
#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
SBI manager Jharigaon branch says, "Her fingers are broken, so she is facing trouble withdrawing money. We'll… pic.twitter.com/Hf9exSd0F0 — ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2023
"Her fingers are broken, so she is facing trouble withdrawing money. She has been given ₹ 3,000 manually from the bank. We will resolve the problem soon," the SBI manager of the Jharigaon branch said.
The Sarpanch of her village has also said that they are looking into listing such helpless people in the village and providing them with pension money.
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FM Nirmala Sitharaman reacts
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded to the video of a 70-year-old woman walking barefoot in the scorching heat to collect her pension from the State Bank of India (SBI) in Odisha's Jharigaon. Sitharaman tweeted, “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?”
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 — Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) April 20, 2023
In response to her tweet, the bank immediately took cognisance of the incident and issued a statement.
As soon as the minister reacted to the video, the bank immediately took cognisance of the incident. The State Bank of India, a series of tweets, replied, "Madam, we are equally pained to see this video. Smt Surya Harijan in the video used to withdraw her old age pension from the CSP point situated in her village every month. Due to old age, her finger prints were not matching at the CSP point".
"She visited our Jharigaon Branch with her relative. Our Branch Manager immediately paid the amount by manually debiting her account. Our Branch Manger has also communicated that her pension will be delivered to her doorstop from next month. We have also decided to handover a wheelchair to Smt Surya Harijan", the bank added.
The bank revealed that the elderly woman, Surya Harijan, used to withdraw her pension every month but due to old age, her finger prints were not matching at the CSP point. The manager of the Jharigaon branch then paid her the amount manually and also offered her a wheelchair.
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The video of Harijan had gone viral on social media after it was shared by news agency ANI. The video showed Harijan struggling to walk barefoot during the day with the support of a broken chair. Harijan was denied her pension due to mismatch in her thumb impression and was forced to return home. However, the SBI manager assured swift resolution of the problem by providing her with the pension manually.
Harijan belongs to a very poor family with no land to plough. Her elder son works as a migrant labourer in a different state, while her younger son grazes other people's cattle. With the help of the SBI, Harijan will now receive her pension at her doorstep from the next month.
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- With inputs from agencies
