THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The lockdown guidelines went for a toss as thousands of people gathered in fronts of banks to withdraw their pension amounts credited by the government. Though several banks made arrangements to enable the public, mostly senior citizens, obey lockdown rules by arranging chairs outside, many others had overlooked it.
Long queues were observed in front of the banks from 9.30 am onwards. Despite police presence, the public crowded in many places prompting the cops to forcefully make them fall in line.
An SBI Bank officer told Express that various social pensions were credited to the accounts by Friday and people rushed to the bank on Monday after getting to know about this.
"Some of the old people were of the impression that they need to withdraw the money back as early as possible or else it will be deducted by the government. Some others were badly in need of money that they wanted to withdraw it in the first instance. Due to the crowd, we had to ask for police help. After police intervention, the things went on smoothly," the officer added.
Apart from that, the bank officials also informed the public that the pension amount of Rs 2400 has been credited to their accounts and they can withdraw it as and when needed. However, not many were ready to accept it, said the SBI officer.
The amount can also be withdrawn using ATM cards, but only a few beneficiaries were in possession of cards.
Finance Minister said the government will think of stopping distribution of pensions if the beneficiaries don't follow lockdown guidelines. He also said bank officials and police should ensure that social distancing guidelines are strictly followed.
Meanwhile, beneficiaries who had opted for Cooperative banks did not face any issues. Majority of pensioners got their amount delivered at home. " They started getting it on Friday itself and there are no complaints about it so far," said a Cooperative bank official.