BENGALURU: The great-great-grandmother of this Mangaluru-based family is 103, while her great-great-granddaughter is three. What brings them together with other members of the five-generation family is -- they have all just opened accounts under India Post’s Mahila Samman Savings Certificate (MSSC).
They made history possibly by being the only five-generation family in India to open savings accounts at the sub-post office at Kinnigoli near Mangaluru on August 3.
Seetha Poojarthi (103), who resides at Kuppepadavu; her daughter Sundari Poojarthi (72), who lives at Kaikamba; her granddaughter Yamuna Poorjarthi (50) of Ullai Bethu; her great-granddaughter Pavithra V Amin (33); and her great-great-granddaughter Dithya V Amin (3) have opened savings accounts under MSSC aimed at financial empowerment of women.
The staff members of Kinnigoli sub-post office under Mangaluru Postal Division deserve all accolades for this achievement. They not only visited the residences of the senior women, but also brought all of them, living in various parts of the district, to the post office in a car driven by Pavithra’s husband Vijay Amin.
‘I wanted all women in my family to benefit from the scheme’
“The women were given sarees as gifts apart from a treat at a nearby restaurant to honour the family’s unique achievement,” K Raghunath Kamath, head of Multi-Tasking Staff at Kinnigoli, told TNIE.
Kamath, who joined the department 32 years ago, goes door-to-door promoting the scheme. He met Pavithra at her house and briefed her about the benefits of the scheme.
“I asked her about other women in her family and she gave me all the details. We decided to make them open their accounts,” he said.
“After I heard about the high rate of interest and the flexibility of savings it offered, I wanted all women in my family to benefit from the scheme. Postal employees helped us bring my great-great-grandmother, who resides 40km away, to the post office,” Pavithra, a homemaker, told TNIE. Seetha, who used to work as a farmer, now lives with her son and his family.
Sudhakara Mallya, senior superintendent of posts, Mangaluru Division, said, “India Post reached five generations at one go through MSSC. Credit for this goes to Raghunath Kamath, who persuaded them to open the savings accounts.”