NABARANGPUR: The State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday assured that it would deliver old-age pension at the doorstep of a 70-year-old woman from Nabarangpur district after a video of her went viral on social media prompting Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to intervene.
In the video, the elderly woman Surya Harijan can be seen walking barefoot in scorching heat with the support of a broken plastic chair to withdraw money from the Jharigaon branch of the SBI.
After the video went viral on social media, Sitharaman pulled up the SBI, directing the bank authorities to take cognizance of this and act humanely. In her social media post, the minister also wondered why there are no 'bank mitra'.
SBI authorities responded to the tweet from the Union Finance Minister. “Surya Harijan used to withdraw her old age pension from the customer service point (CSP) situated in her village every month. She visited our Jharigaon branch with her relative as her fingerprints did not match at the CSP point. Our branch manager immediately paid the amount by manually debiting her account. She has been communicated that the pension will be delivered to her doorstep from next month,” the SBI tweeted.
A team of bank officials led by Nabarangpur SBI chief manager visited the woman at her village on Friday and assured her that she would get her pension amount at her doorstep.
Jharigaon branch manager Rashmi Meher said she was facing trouble in withdrawing money because of fingerprint mismatch due to her old age. “We have resolved the problem. She has been given Rs 3,000 manually from the bank. She will not have to come to the bank for pension. She will be provided the pension amount at her home every month,” he said.
Hailing from a poverty-ridden family, Harijan stays with her younger son’s family in a hut as her elder son is away from home and working as a migrant labourer. The family makes a living by grazing other people's cattle and they have no agricultural land.
Jharigaon block social security officer Parthojeet Mandal said the family has already been included in the national food security scheme and the block administration has provided a tricycle for her mobility.